[AkMar]

Side view of the Marcopolo hybrid. It has had an extended stay with BEST, now into 3rd month of service. Initially it was supposed to be a one month trial.

The performance is good enough. As per a fellow bus enthusiast who travelled in it twice, the bus loaded with 70 passengers climbed the SEEPZ slope on Jogeshwari-Vikroli link road with ease. This slope is the litmus test for performance of any vehicle. Even diesel buses of BEST stall frequently on this slope.

[julupani]

I hope they bring out a diesel version of this, allowing it to be sold all over the country.

Also, would love to know how much difference does it have on fuel efficiency and emissions??

[WasavaTyres]

City buses of Indore :

[smashnerd]

Originally Posted by WasavaTyres

City buses of Indore :

That's a well maintained bunch of Starbuses. How many are there in the fleet? Are there other models of LF city buses too?

[WasavaTyres]

These are old pics. The buses have been trashed long since. In a shocking incident, a labour was killed by a city bus. The person was painting the road divider when a city bus drove past with it's engine cover on the rear right side in a mangled state and the poor souls throat was slit by the metal. Freak accident - but more of negligence on the operators part. In all probability the bus operator got away scot free by greasing palms as I never read about it in papers again. There are about 112 in all,all of them on CNG and a newer lot that has about 12 buses of marco polo badging.

[smashnerd]

Originally Posted by WasavaTyres

These are old pics. The buses have been trashed long since. In a shocking incident, a labour was killed by a city bus. The person was painting the road divider when a city bus drove past with it's engine cover on the rear right side in a mangled state and the poor souls throat was slit by the metal. Freak accident - but more of negligence on the operators part. In all probability the bus operator got away scot free by greasing palms as I never read about it in papers again. There are about 112 in all,all of them on CNG and a newer lot that has about 12 buses of marco polo badging.

Poor guy. For a moment I thought that a miracle had happened in India. But, Alas; it was not to be.

P.S. - do you mean the new lot is the same Starbus with Marcopolo badging or the Marcopolo LF buses?

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

** something similar has happened on NH 17 at Calicut. A school girl was killed by "flying around" door of a tourist bus.

I guess these doors are like the "suicide doors" of cars (opening backwards?)

[coolclouds]

Here is a Corona bus spotted at Bangalore airport today evening (Route BIAS9). I could manage only these snaps from my mobile cam.

[silverado]

Originally Posted by AkMar

Side view of the Marcopolo hybrid. It has had an extended stay with BEST, now into 3rd month of service. Initially it was supposed to be a one month trial.

The performance is good enough. As per a fellow bus enthusiast who travelled in it twice, the bus loaded with 70 passengers climbed the SEEPZ slope on Jogeshwari-Vikroli link road with ease. This slope is the litmus test for performance of any vehicle. Even diesel buses of BEST stall frequently on this slope.

Are the seats in Marcopolo better than King long? I find King long seats very uncomfortable, and the recline angle keeps changing from row to row if you have noticed it.

Any info on the engine rating of this bus? Kinglong i guess is 170 bhp only as compared to 260 bhp NMMT volvo

[AlphaKilo]

Lol the Corona looks cool from front, a striking similarity to the Scania city buses that one can see in singapore. But no rear view. Is the engine vertically mounted? Another lol is that on the side it says, "Fly by wire"

A video from TV 9 about the launch of the corona(low pollution) buses. The persons tells its a BS4 bus.

YouTube - ‪TV9 - ECO-FRIENDLY NON-POLLUTING CORONA BUSSES IN BMTC SHORTLY‬‏

[julupani]

The body work of the Corona, looks very crude and almost plasticy to me. The air-intake at the rear is a complete eye-sore.

Even at the rear, the engine seems to have been mounted very high, compared to other RE buses, from Volvo, Tata and Leyland. Of-course, a 4cyl, 4.5L engine will take up a lot less space than a 6 cylinder 5.9L engine. The rear-cooling ducts are mounted so high up!!!

The interior shots from the video, suggests it is not a low floor arrangement, rather it looks like an E+2 situation. Seems to me like they are using the same monocoque as their intercity bus.

Overall, first impressions, I am very disappointed with the effort of Corona, more so considering that their intercity bus is a pretty good bus.

[silversteed]

That Corona looks like a cheap remake or a mix-and-match operation on many internationally acclaimed bus bodies. Only time will tell how these things would stand the abuse. The AC TM buses are already puffing thick black smoke. Only the Volvos seem to be well maintained.

[AkMar]

Originally Posted by silverado

Are the seats in Marcopolo better than King long? I find King long seats very uncomfortable, and the recline angle keeps changing from row to row if you have noticed it.

Any info on the engine rating of this bus? Kinglong i guess is 170 bhp only as compared to 260 bhp NMMT volvo

I actually find the seats of Kinglongs very comfortable. Yes the angle changes for some rows but the seats are comfortable. Seats in regular marcopolo are horrible. In the hybrid they are quite good.

This bus as well as Kinglong use 230 hp Cummins CNG engine

[julupani]

Correct me if I am wrong here, but I think the reason why only Volvo's are well maintained is that they are maintained by Volvo and the TML buses by BMTC.

[Ashley2]

This is a E+1 configuration in a low floor avatar unlike ultra low floor like 8400's.