- Tour operator takes delivery of S 516 HDH from the Setra TopClass 500 series with 2+1 seating
- Fleet also rejuvenated by two Mercedes-Benz Travego touring coaches
- Largest investment in the company’s over 80-year history
Schlienz Tours GmbH & Co. KG from Kernen near Stuttgart is adding three touring coaches of the Setra and Mercedes-Benz brands to its fleet.
At the handover ceremony which took place at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart for an S 516 HDH of the Setra TopClass 500 series, a two-axle Mercedes-Benz Travego and a three-axle Travego M, managing director Erhard Kiesel noted: “These top-class vehicles stand for a new dimension in travel at our company and fully satisfy our customers’ expectations regarding the ultimate in comfort and safety.”
Additional vehicles will follow, because in total the coach operator is investing four million euros in the expansion and modernisation of its current fleet – the largest sum to be invested since the company was established in 1932.
The Travego which has now entered into service accommodates 42 passengers on comfortable LuxLine touring seats, while the Travego M offers 48 such seats. 37 passengers can enjoy the ride on board the S 516 HDH, benefiting from plenty of room for their legs and arms as they take in the view through the TopSky panoramic glass roof. The Setra TopClass 500 vehicle features exclusive 2+1 seating.This means three instead of four seats in a row.
Attention assistance system keeps tabs on the driver
All three vehicles from Daimler’s present bus range have the most cutting-edge safety systems currently available in the industry on board. These include the Lane Assistant (SPA), adaptive cruise control (ART) with emergency braking assist and Attention Assist (AtAs), which continuously retrieves information relating to the driver’s condition and/or tiredness by reference to specific criteria, such as steering movements and braking activities, activation of the direction indicator, vehicle speed and the time of day. When a defined model value is exceeded, the system warns the driver.
Apart from ensuring safe journeys, the company also provides for a broad-ranging entertainment programme. While on the road, an on-board entertainment system provides passengers with access to several hundred music titles and a large selection of films, for example, which they can load onto their own tablets or smartphones. Anyone without such a device can borrow one from the service staff. The online edition of the Esslinger Zeitung newspaper can also be downloaded, to keep everyone up to date on happenings in their home town, wherever their travels may take them.
Setra TopClass 500 – premium products for exclusive travel services
The Setra brand’s presentation of the TopClass 500 in the autumn of 2013 heralded a new generation of touring coaches which redefines the aspects of design, value, safety and economy. With their aerodynamic lines, the stylish touring coaches with a Cd value of 0.33 lead the European coach sector in terms of fuel efficiency, too. Following the successful start of series production, the new flagship Setra vehicle has already been honoured with the “Red Dot Award: Product Design 2014”, a globally recognised seal of quality.
Mercedes-Benz Travego – cruising in style like the World Cup winners
The Travego coaches are the top models in the Mercedes-Benz bus and coach range. The high-deck touring coaches come in three variants: the Travego measuring 12 m in length, the 13 m-long Travego M and the Travego L measuring 14 m. These premium high-deckers are innovation flagships above all in terms of powertrain engineering, environmental technology, safety engineering and operation. From mid-2015, for example, the Travego will be available with Active Brake Assist 3 – a system which initiates full brake application automatically in emergencies involving stationary obstacles in front of the vehicle.
