Two main factors have influenced the evolution of Grupo Castrosua as a bus body manufacturer: on the one hand, technology, a demanding travel companion due to its continuous improvement; and on the other, customer needs, which always inspire the design of our vehicles.
With attention focused on both variables, we manage to offer transport companies solutions completely adapted to their service, improving the comfort of drivers and all those people who get on an urban, commuter, or interurban bus daily. The customization of bodywork according to the requirements of each client is increasingly important for Castrosua; in this post, we will explain why and how flexible bus production is.
The reason for Castrosua’s adapted solutions
As we said, the evolution of the bodywork we have manufactured since 1948 is a consequence of the rhythms set by technology and the constant modification in the habits or routines of public transport users.
For example, if in our beginnings we were primarily concerned with having a space inside the bus where packages or suitcases could be stored, now we also strive to find the best place for those fixie bikes that some people use to relax on their way home from work or for those surfboards that the more adventurous use to cool off by ‘catching’ waves. 😉
Furthermore, society has moved collectively towards universal accessibility in public transport; a request that Castrosua has never ignored. In the early 1990s, this commitment was reflected in the manufacture of our first low-floor bodyworks. Today, Grupo Castrosua continues to work on consolidating a model that eliminates barriers for people with reduced mobility, with automatic and manual access ramps, approved ischial supports, and rails and seats with anchors for transporting wheelchairs. All customer suggestions that lead to inclusive transport are taken into account by Castrosua and applied in the customization of bodywork.
Our company wants clients to be the protagonists of their own story, with the buses that best suit them. In this regard, the input they provide us during the definition phase of the vehicles is crucial, incorporating original ideas and new solutions that we strive to integrate into our bodyworks.
Customized buses on the outside…
In addition to the specifications provided by each client, we advise them on the characteristics that best suit the intended use of each bus or coach that leaves our factories. Depending on the purpose of each vehicle, we will make recommendations for its interior and exterior.
Let’s now see how far Castrosua has come with bodywork customization, both in designing the interior configuration of the bus and in deciding its external structure. There are many elements that are 100% customizable, from what are known as exterior elbows to interior partitions or luggage compartments.
On the exterior of a custom-designed bus, it is possible to rethink (without infringing any traffic regulations) the position of its signaling lights, the use of its rearview mirrors, the design of its rear end… These are some recent changes made to our bodyworks that are noticeable from the outside of the bus:
- These buses with Castrosua bodywork circulating in Abu Dhabi and Palma have the brake and turn signal lights in the upper rear area:
- The following vehicle from Transportes Urbanos de Sevilla has cameras installed instead of traditional rearview mirrors.
- The Municipal Transport Company of Madrid (EMT) has used and uses our New City bodywork with a particularity: its rear end is completely smooth, a feature that facilitates the placement of advertising on urban buses. We free up the side or rear areas, and the client finds the best advertisers. 😉
- This bus, also from EMT, was customized to the client’s liking by incorporating aerodynamic spoilers on its roof.
- Split elbows with halogen low and high beam lights and another with full LED technology lights on another of the urban buses with Castrosua’s New City bodywork circulating in Madrid.
- Another customization to the client’s liking, which in this case affected the battery compartment. Instead of opting for a traditional rail-mounted one, we chose a swiveling one with a quick release.
… and on the inside
And here are other customizations of our bodyworks agreed upon with different clients that contribute to the modernization and better utilization of the interior of urban or commuter buses:
- Surfboard racks on bodyworks sold to Transportes Interurbanos de Tenerife (TITSA). Castrosua is the only bodywork manufacturer offering this solution to date.
- When it comes to providing a transport service, there is no time or space to
waste. In this bus purchased by a client from Abu Dhabi, we converted the driver’s glove compartment into an area with SAE components that help control certain aspects of the bus’s engineering. The goal is to make the most of every small corner, always seeking functional solutions that do not detract from the vehicle’s aesthetics.
- In this bus, we modified the access to the rear shelf. The step leading to it was replaced by an access with two lower steps. The same was done with the access through the central door, considering passenger comfort.
- Guaguas Municipales de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria wanted to change the material of the partition separating the driver’s space. Based on their needs, we replaced the previous polycarbonate one with a white aluminum one.
- Installation of door opening buttons on the doors themselves at the request of Transportes Metropolitanos de Barcelona (TMB). With this modernization, departures are more agile.
- Bicycle racks on Castrosua’s low entry bodyworks used by Transport públic de Mallorc (TIB).
- Today, Castrosua manufactures many of its urban transport bodyworks with a semi-vandal-proof partition. This is a growing demand.
- Approved ischial support in class II for a vehicle with our Stellae bodywork model, designed for the interurban segment
- Wooden door in units sold to TITSA, the entity responsible for interurban transport in Tenerife. At Castrosua, we adapt to the space each company has designed for its driver, always prioritizing their protection and comfort.
- Special payment box for TITSA units.
- Luggage racks designed for several units of our Magnus.E LE bodywork, optimal for medium routes with many passengers and little luggage.
- Luggage racks above the vaults in Magnus.E LE units.
- The solution of interior luggage compartments is designed for those buses that, due to their route, are frequented daily by passengers with luggage. With this interior luggage compartment, their belongings are stored in a specific area without causing inconvenience or danger to other travelers.
- Vehicles with rails and seats with quick anchors to transport up to five wheelchairs. As we have already mentioned, Castrosua believes in urban transport designed in the image and likeness of its users, and therefore, currently works towards consolidating a barrier-free bodywork model that aims for universal accessibility.
The customization of Castrosua’s most established bodyworks
Our most established bodyworks are no exception to Castrosua’s commitment to offering clients accessible and eco-sustainable solutions. Thus, models like New City, Magnus.E, or Stellae are manufactured today in service of accessibility, as well as being powered by alternative fuels such as CNG. Our group’s offering also includes a hybrid vehicle: the Magnus.H.
In addition to this, we also adapt the furniture or technology of each of these bodyworks to the purpose of each bus or the taste of each client:
A New City with the full LED optics of the Magnus.H bodywork? Why not!? A New City with ‘container-pushing’ fenders? Why not!? A Magnus.E with LED bars for daytime running lights? Why not!? More accessible seats inside the buses that leave our factory? Why not, when, as we have said, universal accessibility is one of Castrosua’s main commitments?
In short, Castrosua is a flexible company that offers custom-made, high-quality bodyworks. On the road ahead, our vehicles will continue to incorporate the highest technological component, will continue to advance towards total sustainability and accessibility, and will continue to bear, in addition to our signature, that of our clients, whom we always listen to and with whom we will continue to evolve hand in hand.
