[Newpunter]

The Himachal Tourism buses are really good and the resorts maintained by Himachal Tourism are also very good. If one wants to visit Himachal Pradesh, these buses are the best way to travel. Sadly, I learnt this only during the return part of my trip.

[DWind]

I feel Bus Industry in North is not as mature as down south due to

1. Excellent Railway network: When compared to down south(Karnataka/TN) the railway network is better. You have more trains between 2 places that you want to travel except the Hills where there is no network. It is not only the connectivity but the infrastructure. Most Railway lines near Delhi and plains are double - tracked (more throughput) and electrified (faster pick up and can clear sections faster) and since being on plains do not have speed restrictions (unlike Mumbai-Pune). In Karnataka, there is a strong bus lobby(both Govt+private) that had derailed the track conversion of Bangalore - Mangalore route. It is the same case in branch lines of TN as well.
2. Intercity travel on Road is faster in South than North: Consider Bangalore-Mangalore, Bangalore - Pune/Mumbai, Chennai - Hyderabad. These are faster by Road, as trains simply cannot be run non-stop unlike in the North where Delhi is served by umpteen Shatabdi's for intercity travel.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by .sushilkumar

yes, volvo's are not that much in business in north but this is because the state transport deptt are very organized and cover most long routes be it delhi / jaipur to jammu or del - leh. the private volvo's are mainly used by private transporters for group / religious tour to various places . additionally one can find isuzu bus;es with hrtc and lexus or lexia ( don;t remember the exact name ) bus;es of PRTC . u can find a volvo every hour to CHD . The lexus or lexia one runs from del to amritsar where as isuzu i know run from del to hamirpur via nadaun / jawalamukhi .

Volvos and state transport deptts are not mutually exclusive! Have a look at the state corporations of the southern states, they have massive fleets of Volvos serving the same routes as their regular/cheaper services.
-- - --

While most of the travel in south could be work related (Blr, Hyd, Chn being IT hubs), there is an immense potential of leisure travel up north. Most destinations in Rajasthan, Himachal, J&K, Uttarakhand, UP are not more than 8-10 hours away. What is needed is some initiative and aggressive expansion. Himachal tourism is doing a good job, I only hope the rest of the state corporations follow suit.

I am sure, a lot of people won't pick up their cars to drive down till Jaipur/Jammu/Srinagar/Nainital/Alhbd if we have decent bus services. Atleast I won't!

[Ashley2]

As we have started discussing about transport in North, can anyone help me understand the transport in capital city. I believe DTC is into city limits. How is the Inter state buses? who operates them?
Most important is why is blue line buses so horrible there. Do they hear anything as FC?
Are they operated by only private or by Govt also?

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

As we have started discussing about transport in North, can anyone help me understand the transport in capital city. I believe DTC is into city limits. How is the Inter state buses? who operates them?

AFAIK, DTC is the official transport of the NCT of Delhi, not just the city bus operator. DTC operates inter-state services as well.

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Most important is why is blue line buses so horrible there. Do they hear anything as FC?
Are they operated by only private or by Govt also?

Blue Lines are private buses - I guess this provides answers to all your questions

From my limited understanding, Blue Lines are so rash only to increase their "collections" - just like the "Red Killers" of Kochi.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

As we have started discussing about transport in North, can anyone help me understand the transport in capital city. I believe DTC is into city limits. How is the Inter state buses? who operates them?
Most important is why is blue line buses so horrible there. Do they hear anything as FC?
Are they operated by only private or by Govt also?

DTC is responsible for operating both inter and intra city buses.

Blue lines are nothing but private buses operating within the city limits. They run on the same routes as DTCs and have the same route number.

Blueline name comes from when these actually used to be blue/white. There were green/white lines too.

DTC buses are driven much more rashely than the Bluelines, and cause similar number of accidents, but this never finds it to the papers. Not defending the bluelines, but thats how it is.

[.sushilkumar]

Originally Posted by julupani

@sushil

I think almost all the time KSRTC and TNSRTC have been doing a very good job of providing bus transport in the south. I would say better or atleast as good as any SRTC in the north.

And anyway, in the south, it was KSRTC with its Airavat's which would be credited to really bringing about the initial shift to Volvo's and not private operators. Today private operators are big on Volvo's but not 6-7 years back.

I agree that volvo's Ply more in south but one needs to understand the nitty gritty of running a volvo as well . cost involved are huge .a 540 KM trip from delhi to my native costs me 11 hours . u can cover the same distance in south in good 6-7 hours max . so turn around time for new trip is less in south compared to north . moreover with highway building going on everywhere the maintain cost is high.

Another imp thing is that people in north always prefer to travel via govt transport for simple reason - they are more reliable and cost effective compared to private operators . if my state transport bus gets stranded in middle of forest, i am sure that my driver / cond will provide me a new bus and takes care of everything but with private operators they will ditch u in middle of forest . that;s what my experience is .

Originally Posted by Ashley2

As we have started discussing about transport in North, can anyone help me understand the transport in capital city. I believe DTC is into city limits. How is the Inter state buses? who operates them?
Most important is why is blue line buses so horrible there. Do they hear anything as FC?
Are they operated by only private or by Govt also?

Whole of delhi - NCR is being services by DTC as of now. Blue lines are off the roads now except for few routes. they too will be out of delhi in near future . Additonally govt has introduced orange buses also, which are run by a same private consortium to avoid competition on road just like blue lines.

For Inter state goes, they hardly have a fleet of 50-70 buses ( old Buses ) which mainly cater to 200 kms distance with in NCR ( merrut / muzzafrnagar range) . For Jammu , DTC has taken one volvo bus on contract from a private operator and they hardly run any bus to anywhere in HP .

Problem is that their whole fleet is converted to CNG and it's available in Delhi/NCR only .

[tsk13]

Regarding the better Volvos, these are never put to use on Per Seat Basis in Inter-State Travel Segment. The well maintained Volvos are owned by Mann, Doaba, Asian Travel House, Ajay Travels, Ten Travels etc. and most have Washrooms.

Recently, I've seen Mann's Volvo near Ramakrishna Ashram but I doubt if it was meant for Delhi-Manali tour since Mann particularly states that Buses are not available on Per Seat Basis. Further, Mann has Mercedes Benz Coaches now doing Delhi-Agra Tours daily.

Ajay Travels in another operator whose Orange buses are seen parked near Gole Market/ Ramakrishna Ashram Marg. The buses are well-maintained and one Mercedes Benz has also joined their fleet.

Guys, am I missing any other owner of the good Volvos?

[vibbs]

Team,

Sorry for bumping up an old thread. We are planning for a trip to Amritsar from Delhi over the weekend. Plan is to either go by train or book a bus. Since it is such a short notice, there are no train tickets available. The second option remaining is Bus.

I tried booking Volvo from Punbus, but the only Volvo running reaches at 0140 am!! There are other HVAC sleeper buses of which I have no idea. What are these HVAC buses?

I am also not very sure about any reputed private bus operators, and would like some help on that front. Anyone having good experience with private Volvo operators pleas guide. I dont expect the buses to be authentic volvo, but will do even if they are look alikes providing decent comfort and keeping up proper schedules.

Thanks in advance

[.sushilkumar]

Originally Posted by vibbs

Team,
I tried booking Volvo from Punbus, but the only Volvo running reaches at 0140 am!! There are other HVAC sleeper buses of which I have no idea. What are these HVAC buses?

You might not get a ticket Online with Pun bus due to Diwali Rush. Better you go to ISBT and book from there. you will get a ticket as there is a quota for online bookings. Quite possible they have some tickets left . As for as i know there are more than one Volvo / lexis / Mercedes from Delhi to Amritsar run by PRTC.

Did you checked with Haryana roadways . Not sure if they Run a Volvo to Amritsar from Delhi.

As for HVAC buses goes, they are normal state transport buses converted to AC one. Not comfortable for over night journeys.

[vibbs]

Thanks for the help Sushilkumar. I checked Punbusonline website and even they list only one volvo and 3 HVAC buses to amritsar from delhi on the date I queried. The sole volvo listed does have seats but the odd time of the day that it reaches Amritsar is restraining me from booking it. However when I checked the return tickets, I saw two more integrated coach buses from Amritsar along with these. Dont know why they are not listed for the onward journey.

Any idea on good private bus operators that run Volvo or similar buses to Amritsar?

[asethi]

Originally Posted by vibbs

Any idea on good private bus operators that run Volvo or similar buses to Amritsar?

Indo-Canadian, Libra/Ashiana travels are good options. Indo-Canadian has quite good service between Amritsar and Chd/Delhi I guess.
Check on redbus/makemytrip for bus reservations.

[.sushilkumar]

No Idea on private operators but As a fact i know indo canadian . they start from Airport T3 terminal as for as i know .

https://www.indocanadiantransport.com/in/Main

Above is their website.

[CARDEEP]

Originally Posted by vibbs

Team,

Sorry for bumping up an old thread. We are planning for a trip to Amritsar from Delhi over the weekend. Plan is to either go by train or book a bus. Since it is such a short notice, there are no train tickets available. The second option remaining is Bus.

I tried booking Volvo from Punbus, but the only Volvo running reaches at 0140 am!! There are other HVAC sleeper buses of which I have no idea. What are these HVAC buses?

I am also not very sure about any reputed private bus operators, and would like some help on that front. Anyone having good experience with private Volvo operators pleas guide. I dont expect the buses to be authentic volvo, but will do even if they are look alikes providing decent comfort and keeping up proper schedules.

Thanks in advance

Try Travelyaari site, refer below link:

http://www.travelyaari.com/

You can book tickets of State Transport buses as well on this site. I went to Katra (Vaishno Devi) by booking tickets from this site.

[vibbs]

Thank you for the suggestions friends.

I have been checking makemytrip for the bookings.

Indo canadian transport company looks too expensive. With INR 1600 for a 450 Km journey I guess it would make much more sense if we hire a cab and go as we are 5 members in the group.

I was looking at any feedbacks on agencies like Ashiana travels, golden temple volvo, RS yadav travels etc. I couldnt find any reviews online for any of these agencies.

Since Asethi has good opinions about Ashiana travels, I guess I will go ahead and book with them.

Thanks a lot once again for sparing your time