[libranof1987]

What is the expected life cycle of a Volvo in the BMTC fleet?

Originally Posted by condor

Spotted this Corona on route 45G to Khamakya today evening. It was sporting the new green-white colors, like some other BMTC buses.

One of the Coronas is plying on the 335E route; I regularly see it at ITPL.

Has anyone travelled in it? Reviews? Is the fare on par with Volvo/MB or Marco-Polo?

Originally Posted by andromeda

[i][b]All Vayu Vajra buses to the airport are going green, only in color though. The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is replacing its entire fleet of red Vayu Vajra buses with brand new Volvos with a green scheme.

So all the red Vayu Vajras shift to Vajras? I've been seeing a lot of airport-config buses (the one with luggage holder) plying on 500C and 335E routes.

[ant_vas]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Has anyone travelled in it? Reviews? Is the fare on par with Volvo/MB or Marco-Polo?

Have traveled in the new corona last week from central to silkboard.

Its very spacious inside and better leg room than volvo! The floor is flat, unlike volvo which has increasing height as we go to the rear. because of the big glass windows looks airy as well.

The AC was nice and NVH levels were very low inside the cabin.

Seat arrangement is different than volvo and they have 2 seats facing each other ( as in front half of volvo) on both the front and the rear tyre.

Over all i liked the ride on the new corona as i feel volvo's are cramped with the seating arrangement these days (probably to accommodate more people). The pricing is same as volvo.

I see a lot of these buses plying from banashankri to ECity(600CW the one which goes on the flyover) or Indiranagar (201R) routes these days.

[ramzsys]

I could see a 9 psi / 11 psi displayed in the Volvo speedometer console. What is this?

Also, i could hear constant air release sounds with the bus body height rising/falling when the bus is stationary. Why is this happening?

[tharian]

Originally Posted by ramzsys

I could see a 9 psi / 11 psi displayed in the Volvo speedometer console. What is this?

Also, i could hear constant air release sounds with the bus body height rising/falling when the bus is stationary. Why is this happening?

I am not sure about the Psi display.
However, the air release sound is related to the manual ground clearance lowering and increasing by releasing and increasing the air in the air suspension bellows. It is a feature to enable easy entry/exit of passengers by lowering the ground clearance at the doors.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by ramzsys

I could see a 9 psi / 11 psi displayed in the Volvo speedometer console. What is this?

Also, i could hear constant air release sounds with the bus body height rising/falling when the bus is stationary. Why is this happening?

Where was that displayed?

Note:This is not my image.

[ramzsys]

Originally Posted by tharian

However, the air release sound is related to the manual ground clearance lowering and increasing by releasing and increasing the air in the air suspension bellows. It is a feature to enable easy entry/exit of passengers by lowering the ground clearance at the doors.

I traveled in a 356 to Majestic, and this air release happened every time when the bus is waiting in a signal/traffic.

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Where was that displayed?
Attachment 911344
Note:This is not my image.

Oops, my bad. It is the bar, not Psi. It varied from 9 to 11.

[tharian]

Maybe the experts can comment.
As far as I know, I have experienced it when Volvo low floor were first introduced in Bangalore and had also read about it in the newspapers then, about this special feature.
Maybe the driver has a habit of doing so at signals anticipating passengers.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by ramzsys

I traveled in a 356 to Majestic, and this air release happened every time when the bus is waiting in a signal/traffic.

Originally Posted by tharian

Maybe the driver has a habit of doing so at signals anticipating passengers.

The suspension of the Volvo 8400 is adjustable - the bus can be raised or lowered depending on the road conditions. The suspension is somewhat raised when the bus is in motion - when it comes to a halt, the suspension automatically adjusts itself to the gradient on the road. The driver has to manually adjust the suspension when the bus approaching a speed-breaker.

[Latheesh]

Spotted a new non AC BMTC bus in Electronics city today. It was white/cream and green colour and did not see any badge at the front or grill.

EDIT: Its the new Pushpak Eco Plus
Pic Courtesy: Kadri007@SSC

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Spotted a new non AC BMTC bus in Electronics city today. It was white/cream and green colour and did not see any badge at the front or grill.

EDIT: Its the new Pushpak Eco Plus
Pic Courtesy: Kadri007@SSC

These are regular AL Viking.
Initially BMTC ordered 600 numbers of TM LPO 1616 in 2010 Dec. But since till now only 50% are delivered, they ordered 100 numbers of Viking, which AL completed its delivery last month.

[poloman]

Originally Posted by ant_vas

Have traveled in the new corona last week from central to silkboard.

Its very spacious inside and better leg room than volvo! The floor is flat, unlike volvo which has increasing height as we go to the rear. because of the big glass windows looks airy as well.

The AC was nice and NVH levels were very low inside the cabin.

Seat arrangement is different than volvo and they have 2 seats facing each other ( as in front half of volvo) on both the front and the rear tyre.

Over all i liked the ride on the new corona as i feel volvo's are cramped with the seating arrangement these days (probably to accommodate more people). The pricing is same as volvo.

I see a lot of these buses plying from banashankri to ECity(600CW the one which goes on the flyover) or Indiranagar (201R) routes these days.

I also happened to travel in Corona bus on ITPL routes. Lot of them are plying on this route now. Agree to most of the points mentioned. But this is not a fully low floor bus like Volvo. One has to climb one-two steps to reach sitting area. Which is not entirely disabled/elderly firendly. Also noise levels are much higher compared to Volvos especially in the rear.One foot of the rear portion of the bus is entirely separated out as the engine bay. For some reason IT crowd was not willing to get in to this bus. This was not full(to the standing cpacity) where as volvos were running packed.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

So all the red Vayu Vajras shift to Vajras? I've been seeing a lot of airport-config buses (the one with luggage holder) plying on 500C and 335E routes.

There are so many green BS4 Vayu Vajra buses introduced on airport route. May be old buses are moved to other routes.

Originally Posted by tharian

I am not sure about the Psi display.
However, the air release sound is related to the manual ground clearance lowering and increasing by releasing and increasing the air in the air suspension bellows. It is a feature to enable easy entry/exit of passengers by lowering the ground clearance at the doors.

I remember seeing the front entrance lowered to get in a disabled person. It was very helpful since he was in a wheelchair.

[ant_vas]

Originally Posted by poloman

I For some reason IT crowd was not willing to get in to this bus. This was not full(to the standing cpacity) where as volvos were running packed.

Probably they are of the impression that the new bus might be some thing similar to the Tata Marcopolo AC buses!
The marcopolo buses are noisy, they are dirty inside (just look at the AC vents) and dont provide that premium feel as compared to volvos.

But we have to laud the efforts of BMTC to try ansd make life easier for commuters specially this summer when the sun is in full glory over bangalore and the temperatures are touching record highs!

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by ant_vas

The marcopolo buses are noisy, they are dirty inside (just look at the AC vents) and dont provide that premium feel as compared to volvos.

+1
More breakdowns than Volvo and other regular buses

[ant_vas]

Saw this regular BMTC bus painted with some wonderful looking art form. Sorry for the picture quality as it was taken from my phone!

This bus was plying between chikkabanavara (on hesarghatta road) to Majestic bus number was 250.

Anyone seen any other buses like that in other parts of the city?