Well, this one certainly gave me a start when I came across it when doing some research on double-deckers. This is a Yutong Master Discovery Coach, made in China but in this case assembled in Pakistan via knock-down kit. It is then modified by the travel operator, Al Munir, who uses it on their main route between the cities of Quetta and Karachi. Let’s first take a look at the basic bus, then its modifications.
Yutong is one of the larger bus and truck manufacturers in China – most of their export market is to the Middle East and Africa, though I did see they are now in Australia and Britain. In the home market, this coach is designated the C13 PRO. It is forty-one feet long and 100 inches wide. Power comes from a Weichai 9.7 liter inline six-cylinder turbodiesel putting out 375 hp and 1076 ft. lbs. of torque. Transmission is a six-speed manual ZF unit. Interesting for such a long coach it doesn’t have a tag axle. The bus above is the home market model.
Once it exits the assembly factory in Pakistan, the in-house shops at Al Munir install their own interior. In the main seating area, they put in place both upper and lower berths, each fairly large with their own TV monitor.
It’s down below where the real modifications start – Al Munir takes the three luggage bays and turns them into sleeping berths. They extend across the width of the bus. I assume these are for families traveling together. Car doors from some manufacturer are grafted on. The phone is intriguing – maybe it’s an intercom to the driver or an attendant.
As this limits luggage storage, I imagine most passengers travel light though there is some storage in the main deck in the rear, along with a small galley.
I guess you couldn’t accurately say this is a Tri-Decker since there are only two floors, but it is certainly an interesting coach.
The bus is beautiful but this type of buses are not secure.
My country, Argentina, is one of the few countries in the world who accepted this buses in highways. The results are visible, every year more than 100 people die in these double-decker buses.
They look pretty, yes, but they have no stability and at 100 km/h or with a very strong wind they become very unstable.
It’s not for nothing that they are banned in most of the world.
Here in Ottawa, Canada, numerous double-decker buses have flipped on their sides, in the last decade. Due to strong winter cross winds, on exposed suburban roads. Fortunately, no fatalities.
Bus operator’s union has asked the transit service, to not use these buses, in such vulnerable situations.
Reminds me of the Pickwick sleeper coaches from the 1930s, with their two-level berths.
I’m a bit glad to see this is only a modification of a Chinese bus, as I stumbled across a video of a Pakistani bus being built in a very primitive fashion. It looked quite flimsy structurally. It’s both remarkable and mind-boggling.
Wonderful stuff, Mr B! Love it.
Oddly enough, I have seen the vid of this bus before, and I’ve got to confess I got both the heebies and the jeebies real quick.
The very thought of sitting semi-recumbent a few feet above the roadway, fifty-odd victims also semi-recumbent lying two stories above me, and a 9-litre diesel smoking and roaring away a few feet from my head whilst the driver negotiated the madness of Pakistan’s roads, this all combined to make me have an immediate panic attack.