Volvo Buses has announced commencement of trials of the Volvo 7400XL low-floor city bus in Bangalore.
Mr. R. Ashoka, Karnataka Minister for Home & Transport, recently flagged off the bus in the presence of Mr. Akash Passey, Senior Vice President – Business Region International, Volvo Bus Corporation, and Chairman of the Board, Volvo Buses in India, and Mr. Manish Sahi, its Managing Director, as well as senior officials from the State Government and the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC).
The Volvo 7400XL is India’s first multi-axle city bus, with steered axle. At 14.5 m, it is India’s first city bus ready to support efficient mass bus-based transport systems to move more people, with fewer buses, quicker and with less resource utilisation. Volvo 7400XL will take the Volvo City Bus concept to a new level.
The Volvo 7400XL was launched at Auto Expo 2012 in Delhi. With the start of trials of this bus, Volvo Buses is all set to redefine comfort and safety for passengers. This initiative has been made possible with support from BMTC.
Mr. Akash Passey said: “Volvo Buses has been at the forefront of driving innovation is mass transport solution and we are committed to driving the quality of life for millions of passengers in India. As part of this promise we have showcased the Volvo 7400XL, part of our new range of buses, which highlight’s our efforts to make public transport the preferred choice of mobility in a city. The response to the Volvo 8400 city bus in 13 cities across India has been very encouraging and the Volvo 7400XL will take the Volvo City Bus concept one step further.”
If the Volvo 8400 city bus helped move people away from their personal vehicles and save fuel, emissions, road space, the Volvo 7400XL will do this with even greater ease and efficiency. The reason is simple; the Volvo 7400XL can carry over 100 people at a time and as a result significantly improve upon fuel, emissions and road space consumption. Imagine what this can do for growing cities, high occupancy routes and for de-congestion? The savings are profound. The bus offers significantly higher standee and sitting passengers and comes in the attractive New Volvo body design.
Most importantly, this new City Bus from Volvo comes after 10-years of deep understanding of high-performing bus applications in India. The development of the Volvo 7400XL is a collaboration between the global and local design engineers to build an optimum solution for our cities. It also reflects Volvo Buses’ growing strength in creating high-performing bus solutions specific for India.
Manoeuvrability in the city is gracefully tackled by the steered tag-axle allowing the bus to take on tight roads and turns of a city.
Safety is a core value at Volvo Buses and the Volvo 7400XL is yet another instance of a product designed to offer enhanced safety to drivers and passengers. The bus body of this city bus is a tubular structure built to meet the anti-roll over standards. The bar on safety has been raised to an exceptional level with roll stabilizers, electronic braking system, EBS, powerful disc brakes and new PX suspension system. The low-entry at the front and in the middle, means it is easy to get on and off, even for passengers with impaired mobility.
The Volvo 7400XL is powered by the highly efficient Volvo 7-litre diesel engine with a high power of 290hp equipped with a turbocharger and intercooler. The engine results in first-class drivability, outstanding fuel-efficiency and low environmental impact.
Today, Volvo city buses are being operated in 13 cities across India – Bangalore, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune, Mysore, Mangalore, Faridabad, Chennai, Villupuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Hyderabad.
The state-of-the-art factory and overall profile of being a complete transport solutions provider, gives Volvo Buses a unique ability to be in the best position to understand the needs of the Indian market and configure products accordingly.