One step for French psv
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A PATCHY IMAGE of the latest developments in international road and rail passenger transport technology was presented in Paris last week. Although some big names were absent, Transport-Expo '84 provided a launch pad for new passenger service vehicle developments by Renault Vehicules Industriels, and Heuliez provided a valuable insight into the operating requirements of French undertakings.
The debut of the new Renault R312 city bus, a vehicle developed as the first of a new family of standard city buses — and shown at Paris in prototype form, marks a new era for French psv design and driveline engineering although existing models in the PR range of vehicles are being retained in the Renault programme.
The R 312 was developed with some support from the French Government to meet such criteria as a low boarding height, reduced noise levels, improved fuel figures and ease of maintenance and servicing.
Running on 495mm wheels, disc-braked on front and rear axles, the 312 has a floor height of 560mm.
The transversely-mounted rear engine is a 9.8-litre unit specially modified to meet the Corebus (Consommation Reduite d'Autobus) requirements for optimum operation under the stop/start conditions of city operation.
Seating in the new bus is of a new type, cantilevered to keep the floor unencumbered and easy to wash or vacuum.
Some pre-production units to the new design will go into service later this year, to be followed by full-scale production in 1986. The modular design also allows other versions, such as an interurban bus and an articulated bus to be built with the same driveline and other principal features.
Foreign exhibitors in the psv sector included Breda of Italy exhibiting drawings and models of some of the lnbus range of city buses; Van Hool of Belgium with an interurban bus in SNCV colours; and Skoda with models of the new TR 15 articulated trolleybus which was added recently to the production programme.
Heuliez and Peugeot exhibited minibuses including vehicles for special services by RATP, the Paris undertaking. Another' vehicle in Paris colours was the CBM 220 "narrow gauge" midibus with seats for 17 passengers and space for up to 45 standees.
Only 2.2m wide, the CBM bus is powered by a side-mounted 5.5 litre Renault engine driving through a semi-automatic HVD 211 transmission made by SEE, of St Denis-Les-Sens, France.