[prmd_cochin]

Greenland's brand new Volvo Asia Bus and Sona Travels Isuzu both spotted at Kochi.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by prmd_cochin

Greenland's brand new Volvo Asia Bus and Sona Travels Isuzu both spotted at Kochi.

This is not Asia bus and its regular 9400 only.
9100 is currently available with Conti, KTC and Parshwanath.

[dhandapanik]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

This is not Asia bus and its regular 9400 only.
9100 is currently available with Conti, KTC and Parshwanath.

Conti also have a 9100. They are running in Coimbatore-Bangalore route.
--
Edited: Missed to read conti name in the original post. Sorry for that.

[Jaws]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Again an Ambiguity 12M or Viking

Basic difference is the front and rear overhang. But there is a more simpler and basic difference, 12M has 10 Wheel bolt Hubs on all axles, while the trusted Viking has a 8 wheel bolt hubs on all axles. Hope this clears the ambiguity!

[Ashley2]

"Volvo should have a check and should not sell to operators who don't maintain their buses well"
"Mercedes should not exploit its brand by running in newer routes where its value is not felt"
"People don't know how to maintain their high end buses and are simply spoiling the brand image of Volvo and Mercedes"

These are some of the comments about the Volvo and Mercedes Benz when we see those high end coaches not maintained well. We are more than worried about the brand value and these words are out of that only.
But come to Punjab - You can see all the high end coaches running as stage carriage between cities for as low as 70 kms.

I am in Sector 43, ISBT, Chandigarh and Mr.Conductor is shouting Patiala.. Patiala..Patiala.. (as a referance to Valaja-Aambur-Velur... Valaja - Aambur-Velur in Poonamalle bus stand) .He is given due respect from me as he is the conductor of Volvo which is running between Chandigarh and Patiala which is just some 70 kms away. I traveled in the same bus and the ticket fare is Rs.100. Conductor was pulling crowd in each and every bus stops inside the city and in Rajpura (on the way town). The road is a normal single lane with a huge on coming traffic. The bus never crossed 70kmph and each and every time over taking took place only by pushing the opposite traffic away from road. Later I understood every one drives like that only. He simply puts the headlight and over takes.I can definitely tell less than 50% of the Volvo's engine output was used.
From Patiala I came to Bathinda in evening, and here the scene is completely different. There are lot more Mercedes Benz. And its only in this part of India (Punjab as whole) Mercedes has a bigger pie than Volvo in this so called "Super Luxury Stage Carrier application".

All the leading operators like Orbit, Dabwali,Taj, Har Gobind, New Deep, Deep all are operating high end coaches in the stage carrier application. The tax structure is almost similar to normal buses but the ticket fare is very high.
No idea on the viability of business but the population of these buses are high. I need not tell how these buses will be maintained.
So Guys who wanted to see Volvo's and Merc's in pristine condition, plz stay away from Punjab.


This is running between Fazikala and Chandigarh (Distance is ~ 300 kms and this should be the one of longest distance running Mercedes)

Apart from this there are lot of Isuzu and Lexia in the same application. But understand many Lexia's are grounded or in the verge due to poor reliability.




Apart from this there is nothing big of difference in Punjab, which is obvious from the below picture.


Pic copy right to respective owners and to me.

[rrsteer]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

" There are lot more Mercedes Benz. And its only in this part of India (Punjab as whole) Mercedes has a bigger pie than Volvo in this so called "Super Luxury Stage Carrier application".

There can be 3 reasons to that:

1) Average Punjabi's infatuation with the Merc brand.

2) Body maker for Mercedes is Satluj - based in Punjab

3) Luxury bus concept was late to catch on with in Punjab. In 2006 -07 while I was in Bangalore, the biggest impediment faced by me while making a trip back home was bus connectivity from Delhi to Jalandhar. On the other hand, Bangalore was filled with Volvos. Suddenly around 2010 the scene altered and now luxury buses are dime a dozen. This trend caught on around the time when Mercedes was launched in India. So Punjab in that sense, didn't have the baggage of being associated with Volvo in the past.

[TheARUN]

An eye-opener this one, Premium Busses being used as Stage Carriages, goes to show how much money there is in the Stage Carriage business, another thing, guess the Railways is not very popular in Punjab

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

An eye-opener this one, Premium Busses being used as Stage Carriages, goes to show how much money there is in the Stage Carriage business, another thing, guess the Railways is not very popular in Punjab

The main reason for viability in this case is reduced (comparable tax structure) tax structure and high ticket fare.

[ontheroad]

KeSRTC started intercity services (Tvm-Guruvayur, Ekm-Kottayam, Ekm-Thrissur etc) with their low floor AC Volvos as they are incurring losses in their intracity operations. Protests are inevitable when something new is done in Kerala and this time the Mayors of Tvm and Ekm were protesting before Ksrtc depots demanding withdrawl of these intercity services.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by ontheroad

KeSRTC started intercity services (Tvm-Guruvayur, Ekm-Kottayam, Ekm-Thrissur etc) with their low floor AC Volvos as they are incurring losses in their intracity operations. Protests are inevitable when something new is done in Kerala and this time the Mayors of Tvm and Ekm were protesting before Ksrtc depots demanding withdrawl of these intercity services.

The routes are TVM-Ernakulam, EKM-Kozhikode, EKM-Kottayam, EKM-Pala and EKM-Nilambur. These buses are not suitable for such long haul routes.

And, about the protests: These buses were bought using JnNURM funds for operation in City limits. KSRTC watered down city limits and converted it into "district" boundary - certain routes were operated only to pacify coalition MLAs. The city buses in Kochi are doing fairly well - especially routes like Ankamaly-Aroor, Fort Kochi-Airport, etc. There is no reason why these routes should be cancelled and run these buses to the Transport Minister's Constituency.

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by binaiks

These buses were bought using JnNURM funds for operation in City limits.

Wasn't there some sort of issue raised by the funding agency when TNSTC coimbatore used the JNNURM low floor buses for inter-city hauls? Thought I read something like that a year ago or so. Was that sorted out?
On a lighter note, now I understand, KeSTRC officials were doing trial runs for long distance low floor volvo intercity services when few months ago on a couple of days they used them for ferrying the Garuda passengers bound to Bangalore from Trivandrum to palakkad and back or may be this idea struck them then!

Originally Posted by binaiks

The city buses in Kochi are doing fairly well - especially routes like Ankamaly-Aroor, Fort Kochi-Airport

Atleast they could have utilized more of these buses on city-airport route, on the lines of the Vayu vajra services in Bangalore. A taxi ride from Nedumbassery to the city now costs a bomb, and buses would be really helpful if you are a single traveler with light luggage.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

Wasn't there some sort of issue raised by the funding agency when TNSTC coimbatore used the JNNURM low floor buses for inter-city hauls? Thought I read something like that a year ago or so. Was that sorted out?

The buses are not being used for long runs regularly now. They are used during festive seasons as specials, though.

Originally Posted by sandsun7

Atleast they could have utilized more of these buses on city-airport route, on the lines of the Vayu vajra services in Bangalore. A taxi ride from Nedumbassery to the city now costs a bomb, and buses would be really helpful if you are a single traveler with light luggage.

The initial plan was to have a bus from Fort Kochi to Airport (and back) every 30 minutes. However, this politically motivated decision to run these buses on long routes has put all the plans on hold. KeSRTC does not charge any extra money for their airport services, and the current buses on the route have very good patronage.

[dhandapanik]

I'm planning to book a ticket in Conti travels Volvo 9100 for next week friday(31-Nov-12) in Bangalore-Coimbatore route. Redbus is listing this service with 3 seats. Is it reliable to book tickets for Conti in Redbus? Someone please help me asap.

[coriollis]

I am at the Mumbai international airport, to drop my brother.
While coming I saw two brand new 9100's. They were owned by 'Getee'.
Getee being a contract carrier only, doesn't ply these buses on intercity routes.
So for such players, 9100 is fantastic proposition.
Cheers
Abhijeet

P.S: Buses looked lovely in full white theme.

[Jimmyjosek]

Beauties from Malabar!!

Watch out for Tabbu group buses