25 October,2010 07:37 AM IST | | Vedika Chaubey
The BEST is keen to ensure that the men behind the wheels of its new fleet of Volvo buses are familiar with its hi-tech gadgetry.
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The undertaking will send 14 drivers to Bangalore for a 10-day special training module so that the bitter experience it had with KingLong bus drivers is not repeated.
"We have been facing problems since the KingLong buses were introduced in 2007.
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The drivers did not receive proper training in the operation of the buses and often didn*t know how to control the air conditioning or operate the automatic doors.
After bitter experience with tech-challenged KingLong bus drivers, undertaking will send some staff to Bangalore for special training in operating the new Volvo fleet.
Even passengers complained and asked us to train the drivers in these things before sending them out on the roads," said a senior official from BEST.
He added that officials from the manufacturers of the KingLong buses were called to train the drivers at the depots after the problems surfaced, but even that was not of much help.
"We are sending the drivers to Bangalore to get trained in operating the new Volvo buses.
We want to ensure that they are properly trained in all aspects of the new technologies employed in the buses before they get behind the wheel," said Om Prakash Gupta, general manager, BEST.
The new air-conditioned Volvo buses will ply, for the most part, on existing KingLong bus routes.
50
The expected strength of the Volvo fleet
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