RVI stakes Mega claims
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• Renault is predicting a 'short-term' demand for up to 100 of its 'Megabuses' and predicts long term success after eight month's operation of a prototype running in Paris, Nancy, Grenoble and Nice.
The development of the Megabus coincides with a Renault Vehicules IndustrieIs' feasibility study on selling French-made buses in the UK.
RVI has calloborated with French bodybuilder Heulietz Bus to develop the prototype in response to claims by French transport authorities that the present standard and articulated RVI buses, with 100 and 155 seats respectively, are too small.
The Megabus is based on articulated Renault TR180but comprises three articulated sections. RVI says the 35.5tonne bus can turn on an exterior radius of 12m using a normal steering system. It has three drive axles, develops 205kW at 2,10Orpm and has a ZF 5HP 600 gearbox.
Development costs — shared by RVI, Heulietz Bus and the French Government — are not being disclosed.
The Megabus is designed for one-man operation, and RVI claims that maintenance costs are only a little higher than with existing articulated buses, giving it "the lowest costs compared with other heavy urban transport systems. The advantages of Megabus have already been demonstrated," says RVI.