Press Releases
Just the right bus for every type of use
13.05.2011
- Innovative Setra appointments meet all the needs of the industry
- Exclusive exterior and interior provide luxury setting for touring operations
- Broad variety also stands the brand in good stead on regular services in Europe
Luxury long-distance touring, city trips extending over several days, club outings, rural services -
with a diverse range of innovative equipment and solutions for the exterior and interior, the vehicles
of the Setra brand have always had what it takes to meet the wide-ranging requirements and wishes
of bus companies all over the world.
The fact that every bus service has its own individual needs poses a continual challenge for the staff
in the areas of design, production and sales in their daily dealings with customers. Setra is pleased
to rise to this challenge. The bus companies' personal tastes and their different passenger target
groups are further factors influencing the required equipment and appointments for buses. Setra has
been accommodating these needs in a highly individual manner for 60 years now. Setra understands
that only a bus which is tailored to its specific application and the customer’s wishes can offer
optimum economic efficiency.
Setra Voyage – the new seats for luxury touring
Mindful that comfort is the top priority for passengers, at last year's IAA Commercial Vehicles fair in
Hanover the brand presented a totally new generation of seating which is produced at the Neu-Ulm
plant. Designed for high-end touring coaches, the Setra Voyage line redefines the use of materials
and colours for exclusive bus travel with the top variants Voyage Plus and Voyage Supreme. The
seats combine superlative comfort with a high standard of safety, logical functionality and low
weight. The latter aspect is particularly advantageous for two-axle buses in countries in which low
permissible gross vehicle weights apply. In figures: in a 12 m long three-star touring coach, the new
seats represent a reduction in weight of around 70 kilograms.
Fabric piping, leather head sections, bag hooks, waste containers, audio systems with headphone
connections - a well-devised modular system allows bus companies free rein in selecting special seat
variants. Customers are able to configure their seat designs from up to 85 different cushion fabrics
at the Setra customer centre. Customised fabrics are additionally created at the nearby production
shop.
3D Bus Designer: cutting-edge computer technology visualises customers' ideas
In a comfortably appointed Setra bus, the journey is a reward in its own right. With this in mind, the
designers offer a broad range of seating variants. These include the 2+1 arrangement, which offers
passengers adequate space for arms and legs. Three seats in a row represent superlative comfort,
underscoring the high standards to which the Ulm-based Daimler brand aspires. A further
outstanding example is the variant whose aisle-side seats are each positioned six centimetres
towards the front. This provides for a comfortable feeling in the seats, with yet more room to move
in the shoulder area and markedly improved visibility through the side windows.
The key address for design planning is the Setra DesignCenter, which offers customers a diverse
range of interior design options. A vehicle must sport an attractive design if it is to serve as an
eye-catcher for tourists and passengers and thus help to ensure the operating company's economic
success. Competent advice on design matters thus constitutes a crucial criterion when choosing a
new vehicle. With its 3D Bus Designer, the likes of which are not to be found anywhere else in the
bus sector, the brand has introduced a state-of-the-art computer-based design facility offering the
very highest standard of support tailored perfectly to customers’ needs. The Setra DesignCenter in
Neu-Ulm makes easy work of crucial decisions on all points of detail, from the basic colour for thebody, mirror shells or hub caps to the colour of the seat covers, curtain fabrics, platforms, luggage
racks or the side wall panelling. In next to no time and with a minimum of effort, two 60" monitors
provide bus operators with a clear picture of how their new bus will look, presenting it in
three-dimensional form in the course of their discussions with the advisory staff. With eight million
graphic elements at their disposal, they are able to view the latest TopClass, ComfortClass and
MultiClass buses from any angle in three-dimensional mode.
Living-room feeling and technical refinements
Always a head of the times: in recent years, Setra has presented a succession of unusually
appointed vehicles in the international arena, each demonstrating a new departure in the field of
interior design. An S 416 HDH showed how a feeling of home comfort on the road can be combined
with a wealth of functional fixtures and fittings, for example. The exterior appearance of the
three-axle bus with glass roof presented a winning combination of elegance and exclusivity from the
outset, the two exterior mirrors of the marron gold vehicle adding a definitive shine in chrome look.
Inside, a light walnut floor conjured up the appearance of a ship's deck, while the 27 seats in 2+1
configuration and the cockpit were covered in dark brown and beige leather. Seats, ceiling and wall
panelling and the integrated functional areas featured a harmonious array of high-quality textiles,
real wood and high-gloss painted surfaces. In the area of the rear entrance the designers replaced
the fitted kitchen with a 1.80-metre-high changing room which performed a dual function, a table
surface integrated on top of the room doubling as a "mobile workplace" for use by passengers with
standard notebooks. An additional treat for passengers came in the form of an iPod connection
serving as an mp3 player, calendar, address book, world clock and alarm clock in one.
Setra offers a diverse spectrum of kitchens and toilets
Five basic kitchen variants are available in all, fitted with integrated coffee machines, microwaves,
stowage compartments and flasks. Additional components, such as refrigerators, convection ovens
or machines for hot and cold drinks, are optionally available for installation as custom-fit units in
close consultation between the development and sales departments. The kitchens in easy-care
plastic can be accommodated in the area of the central entrance, as upright elements behind
entrance II, opposite entrance II or at the rear of the bus. It is equally possible to integrate a coffee
machine in the tour guide's cabinet. Facilities in England and Turkey include hot water supply
installations in the WC cabin. The kitchen elements are alternatively available with wood or resopal
laminated finishes and with refined airbrush motifs. The same goes for the toilets, whose interiors
consist of glass fibre-reinforced plastic. The toilet, which is available in three basic designs, is fitted
as standard in front of entrance II. A toilet can also be fitted at the rear on request.
Ingenious lift systems for barrier-free travel
From touring coaches to regular service buses, the engineers at Setra have always focused their
attention on developing vehicles which address the needs of disabled persons. In close cooperation
with customers, the brand has developed various solutions for lift systems in recent years which
enable barrier-free access to the passenger compartment. These hydraulically operated elements
can be accommodated in space-saving configuration on the bottom step of the rear door, in the
stowage compartment behind the drive axle or in the luggage compartment behind the front axle.
Specially developed airline rails secure wheelchairs throughout the entire journey. On request, it is
also possible to install large toilets at the rear of Setra buses and a special lift to transport disabled
persons from their passenger seat to the toilet.
Grass-green lawns and fold-out counters
The latest example of the brand's vast innovative potential comes in the guise of the buses
belonging to the Special Edition which Setra presented at the Setra Show which was held in
Neu-Ulm in the autumn of the company's anniversary year of 2010. These models demonstrate the
Ulm-based brand's continuing attachment to its historical roots. Setra's choice of materials and
colours and a K logo designed to mark the company's anniversary adorning wheel hubs, steering
wheel and the porcelain flower vase on the A-pillar recapture the feel inside early buses and revive
the beginnings of bus construction 100 years ago with fabrics and materials, the likes of which have
never been shown before.
After 60 years of development work, the engineers' inventive drive remains as strong as ever. TheDaimler brand demonstrated as much when it presented buses with grass-green lawn-type floors
and genuine stone veneer at the IAA Commercial Vehicles fair in 2010. Also on show at this fair was
a TopClass bus with fold-out drinks counters.
Library bus and mobile x-ray laboratory
Over the past decades Setra has demonstrated time and again how, apart from lending itself to
deployment as an extremely comfortable travelling and regular service vehicle, a bus can also be
used for the most diverse applications: as a mobile x-ray laboratory in Austria, for example, as a
recruitment station for the Canadian navy or as a tour bus to move famous rock and pop stars
around Europe. A very special type of Setra bus is in service in the Netherlands, where a
department of the Dutch justice ministry uses two special buses to transport prisoners. The two S
417 UL buses with GT-HD body incorporate a driver's cab with driver's seat and two passenger seats
plus a cell compartment with 12 double and four single cells. This Setra is able to transport up to 28
offenders.
An exquisitely appointed S 415 UL of the MultiClass 400 series has been turning heads in Stuttgart
for some months now. Light wood and a bold blue colour conjure up a congenial atmosphere inside
this library bus, which boasts a number of ingenious technical features. The level and direction of
the driver's area can be adjusted in next to no time, for example, to transform it into one of the two
service points in the bus. The IT technology onboard this rural regular-service bus turned mobile
library additionally offers extensive facilities for pursuing research throughout the system of
Stuttgart municipal library covering all areas of interest and on the internet.
A very special regular bus service is in operation between Nuremberg and Prague. Omnibusverkehr
Franken GmbH (OVF) runs a service between the Franconian city and the Czech capital with seven
Setra S 431 DT double-decker buses, thereby closing a gap in the current rail network of Deutsche
Bahn AG. The journey time of three hours and 45 minutes is one hour and twenty minutes shorter
than the previously available services between Nuremberg and the Golden City. The buses run five
times in both directions at two-hourly intervals from Monday to Friday. At weekends and on public
holidays the buses complete the 300 kilometre trip six times. The buses are always a sight to behold
at their stops in front of the respective main railway stations. The Setra double-decker buses appear
in the timetable of Deutsche Bahn AG as official rail services, in keeping with which their design is
reminiscent of ICE trains.
This form of use is also emulated by Germany's southern neighbours – the Austrian Federal Railways
(ÖBB) also offer connections with Setra TopClass double-decker buses outside of their rail services.
Versatility in regular daily service
Aside from the travel sector, Setra's MultiClass vehicles also accommodate customers' wishes and
requirements. For regular services or excursions, according to the intended area of use the UL
models are available with a functional straight front or a dynamically sloping front exuding the
character of a touring coach. The brand also demonstrates diversity in European rural
regular-service operations, offering various levels of air conditioning and numerous entrance and
exit variants, including double-width doors. Setra also offers clearly visible solutions in the area of
destination indicator systems. Customers can opt for the LED indicators offering a long service life
and brilliant displays or the flat, space-saving LCD indicators which keep passengers informed by
means of sharply defined displays. And those wishing to prevent malicious damage to their buses
are recommended to cast their eyes over to France, where a bus company has had its Setra buses
equipped with surveillance cameras to combat vandalism.
As of this year, the vehicles for rural regular-service operations are also being fitted with the new
generation of seating, which meets all statutory requirements and standards regarding functionality
and safety. The Setra Route seat model features ideally spaced fixed backrests and an aisle-side
grab handle as standard. Here too, numerous options are available to customers, including
adjustable backrests, footrests, upholstery variants and an anti-vandalism shell on the rear of the
backrest