The new MH-01 LA 5[0-9][0-9][0-9] series

BEST has got itself a new batch of buses from Leyland (their preffered supplier). These most likely have found homes at the Deonar and Ghatkopar depots. Their outer look is quite similar to the older buses, except that the grey band that ran through the bus in the center has been replaced by a white band. The bus says its a part of the MUTP and it proclaims itself to be Bharat-III compliant. (Bharat-III being an unimaginitive alternate name for the Euro-III emission standard. Perhaps the locals didnt like it being called Euro. Or since we are in Bombay or Mumbai - perhaps the locals would have preffered Maharashtra-III or Shivaji-III. I should get an award for this fantastic suggestion.)

Coming back to the buses. Some points to be noted :

• The suspension of the buses is indeed good. Not that of a truck. I wouldnt say its like the Volvo's, but its far far better than what weve been subjected to earlier.
• The pickup is excellent. This perhaps is the reason why Ive already seen two of these buses involved in collisions - perhaps the power steering and pick up havent sunk in well with the drivers (who are anyway good-for-nothing - they should have stuck to driving tempos and lorries and bullock carts).
• The interiors have two extra rows of seats. That means 4 more standees can sit now. But this is at the cost of reduced space in the front exit areas. But this is also good since the BEST staffers cant now just get in and stand next to the exit door, blocking the whole crowd all the time.
• The bus pulls along smoothly and doesnt look as if its taking a lot of undue effort in doing so. Perhaps the diesel engines inside are more powerful. And its pretty silent for a bus. I would say on the highways the bus almost 'cruises'.
• The bus has a mirror above the entrance door. I dont know for what. Perhaps to allow the conductor and other sex starved passengers to have a wide angle look at the girls inside. Of late however these mirrors have been removed. Thats good.
• The bus has a rear display of the bus route number. Probably to let the 'late lateefs' know which bus they are running after. This is however not needed - since one can usually make out the bus route number (if one has travelled extensively on BEST buses before and has kept ones eyes open while doing so in the past) by looking at the 'depot code' (e.g. D, G, SN, BB, V, DH, MLV, OSH etc. ) of the bus thats painted on the rear.
• The windows have a additional sliding latch that helps to keep the windows halfway closed. But I doubt anybody would avail of this feature. As it is its problematic to get the windows opened or closed in the first place and expecting the latch to align with the hole in the window frame is I guess asking for too much from the BEST.

By and large a good bus. But it now all depends if the maintenance staff can keep them in good condition (thats a tall order indeed) - else they too would rust in peace in a few months.