[Vasanth]

This reminds me of my childhood school rickshaw driver.
He was a middle aged man, sweetest person I ever known, loves children, end of the year he even treats us with ice cream & he has no haters.
Most importantly his love for his rickshaw. The way he maintains his rickshaw was impeccable.
Every morning he lights up incense sticks in the rickshaw.
It was ALWAYS clean.
When I used to come back to rickshaw after school he would be cleaning and dusting the windscreen, body etc.
I’ve never seen the seats torn or mats brown
It may be just a rickshaw for us but it is bread and butter for him.

[ike]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Number plate 1935 & 1936 are two different different bus pics above.

ATC93 & ATC95 are the buses running on this route, both drivers would get to drive both the buses on their respective stretches everyday.

[5252rpm]

I have lots of memories covered with this bus. My mom's house is in Changancherry and every childhood Changanacherry trip used to end on this bus. This is a prestige service for the depot and quite long-running too. Now that we switched to personal mobility for family trips and it's been years since we travel in Velamkanni express but the service is very close to my heart.

Another driver Santhosh Kuttan of this bus (who mostly drives from Chenganacherry to Palakkad) is also a living example of Live to Drive. Thanks to the excellent crew, both buses ATC93 & 95 are in pristine condition despite their age. Speak about the fan following, this bus got LED boards, a music system, sticker works, wheel cups, etc at times where these were unheard of on any of other Kerala RTC buses - which majorly contributed by Aanvandi fans, IIRC.

In this sea of buses being mishandled day in and out at KSRTC, this service, depot, and all stakeholders deserve a standing ovation.

[Vipin Kumar]

There are a few guys who manufacture exact miniatures of KSRTC ATC 93 and ATC 95. They charge about INR 10000 per unit. The CHRY - Velankanni Super Express Airbus services have a very wide fan following in and around Kerala. Mr Santhosh Kuttans is mainly the initiator of this whole phenomenon.

There are certain special aspects to this KSRTC service.

Most of the Super Express services of KSRTC are Tata buses, whereas these two, ATC 93 and ATC 95, are Ashok Leyland Viking units.

These two units have the classic express green/yellow livery of the KSRTC, familiar for more than half a century now. The Volvo Swift services which were about to replace the Super Express in this route are of an entirely new livery and taste.

The Velankanni Super Express goes to an important pilgrim place in the south, but it touches many other important pilgrim places on the way too: Pazhani (or Palani), to cater to the devotees of Lord Murugan; Tanjore, to serve those who want to visit the magnificent Brihadeeshwara temple complex of the Chola dynasty of the 11th century; Nagapattinam, for the darga sheriff of a fifteenth century Sufi Saint Shahul Hamid; and finally the Velankanni Basilica, Our Lady of Good Health... It is a truly secular route, ending at the seaside town.

In addition, on the way, this state bus touches the industrial town of Tiruchhirappalli. It is one KSRTC service that goes from Kerala to the interior Tamil Nadu all the way till the Bay of Bengal. There used to be a Tiruvalluvar Express service in the 1980s from Cannanore to Pondicherry via Mahe. Long stopped.

There is a relatively new KSRTC Super Fast from Arthunkal Basilica to Velankanni Basilica, but it takes the Coimbatore route from Palghat.

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by GTO

That is just so cool! Every man loves his machine, be it the fellow riding a basic electric scooter....

Sure makes it all the more special since his favorite machine is his primary workplace.

Irrespective of the criticisms against the drivers of these CVs, I have an immense respect for these people as they are the ones who keep the country running.

[RGK]

This not only demonstrates the driver's feelings for the bus, but also his dedication to his job. Few people are passionate about their profession or the service they provide, and it shows at some point.

Originally Posted by 5252rpm

I have lots of memories covered with this bus.
In this sea of buses being mishandled day in and out at KSRTC, this service, depot, and all stakeholders deserve a standing ovation.

Yetta, Lovely. I had a similar experience in college days and I have the impression that the bus belongs to me.

The maintenance is purely dependent on the depot staff and the BM who set a standard.

In Chennai, I witnessed one MTC bus (Route No 47A, Regn No N2721, Year 2001/02) that was well maintained by the driver, and to everyone's astonishment, all of the dashboard metres were functional, and the driver always pressed the clutch to change gears .

[Jerryaj]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Thank You, sarathlal, for bringing this particular bus and the attached emotions up.

I admire the passion of such drivers, their videos keep on popping on my Instagram feed almost on a dialy basis. The routes seems to be a long one, a 17 hours drive as per KSRTC website. Got to appreciate their passion and hard work.

[TKMCE]

Passion is all fine but you should not forget that this the service is run for the convenience and comfort of passengers. This is one of the longer routes of KSRTC and the plan was to change it to a much newer and better KSRTC Swift Deluxe.

The "passionate" driver should not if I am not wrong be even driving this bus. He is from Palakkad deport and the bus is routed via Palakkad for the convenience of a crew change, taking up more time. It should be run directly via Trichur, Nenmara, Govindapuram and Pollachi bypassing Palakkad.

Good that Indian Railways at least is not listening to the fans of coal powered engines and its passionate drivers.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Number plate 1935 & 1936 are two different different bus pics above

KL-15-A-1935 (ATC93) & KL-15-A-1936 (ATC95) form the pair of buses used to operate this long distance schedule.

Originally Posted by TKMCE

Passion is all fine but you should not forget that this the service is run for the convenience and comfort of passengers. This is one of the longer routes of KSRTC and the plan was to change it to a much newer and better KSRTC Swift Deluxe.

I agree with this point. The KSRTC-Swift Deluxe and the current bus are both identical coaches but built by different body garages - I haven't travelled by the Swift coach but the Super Express bus with 2+2 push-back seats and air suspension offers decent comfort. Maybe they would replace the bus after a while.

Originally Posted by TKMCE

The "passionate" driver should not if I am not wrong be even driving this bus. He is from Palakkad deport and the bus is routed via Palakkad for the convenience of a crew change, taking up more time. It should be run directly via Trichur, Nenmara, Govindapuram and Pollachi bypassing Palakkad.

The crew change would then happen at Thrissur, probably. However, the route via Palakkad though longer by about 20km might rake in more revenue on lean days (when there are fewer end-to-end passengers) compared to the direct route via Nenmara. Just thinking out loud.

[Joscyriac]

Back in my 2010 college days in Bangalore i used to frequently travel to my home in Kerala on KeSRTC buses. My regular ride was a Super Express bonnet number RAK239 on the a Bangalore Ernakulam route. This was 12M Leyland Viking chassis. This had no pushback seats no air conditioning but was 300rs cheaper than the nearest competitor.

Initially I started traveling on this bus because money was tight in college but I quickly fell in love with the Leyland's loud roar and the colors and the rugged look of the bus. Even when I had other options I still preferred to travel on the RAK239. Even now I prefer to travel KSRTC for all my bus travels. Last I checked, RAK239 was at the end of her life and now serving as an ordinary bus in Trivandrum city. Far from her high flying days of shuttling between Bangalore and Kochi. Lot of good memories associated with my travels on this bus.

Same can be said for many people with the Changanacherry Velankanni service. It's a service with one of the largest fanbase in Kerala, a great deal of which due to one of the drivers Santosh kuttan. KSRTC is not just a bus company. It's an emotion. Nostalgia for the passengers. Terror for other motorists.

[Joscyriac]

Originally Posted by Vipin Kumar

.

There is a relatively new KSRTC Super Fast from Arthunkal Basilica to Velankanni Basilica, but it takes the Coimbatore route from Palghat.

This one actually connects both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. I think this is the longest KSRTC Super Fast service.