Tata Motors has bagged an order of 500 low floor urban city buses from Ivory Coast. First lot of 117 buses were handed over to SOTRA, the Abidjan transport company, recently. Financed under the EXIM Bank of India for operation by SOTRA, the buses are built on the Tata LPO 1924 rear engine semi-low floor platform. Customised to meet the requirements of the operator, the buses, aimed at the transport system in Cote D’Ivoire, saw a dedicated team of Tata Motors engineers work with SOTRA for the last 12 months to achieve the desired level of customisation. The LPO 1924 RESLF bus platform is made up of aggregates from global suppliers like Cummins, Allison, and Meritor. With the body built by Marcopolo, the buses feature a pneumatic driver’s seat, automatic transmission, tilt and telescopic integral power steering, and low noise levels for comfortable travel. The buses also feature wide in-swing doors at the front and out-swing doors at the rear. Suspension consists of six air bellows, and a wider gangway.