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Old 22nd June 2022, 21:40   #61
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Re: Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class| A long time dream comes true

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Originally Posted by NTO View Post


I read your post on the day it appeared on our homepage but couldn't get to this until now. With the price of the ticket you have mentioned, I felt that Karnataka SRTC would've made a loss with this trip and I wanted to do a Revenue calculation for the trip and took the exercise as follows.
A ksrtc driver earns 15 lpa & conducter earns 13 lpa
I'm certainly in the wrong profession.
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Old 22nd June 2022, 21:52   #62
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Re: Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class| A long time dream comes true

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Originally Posted by superbad View Post
A ksrtc driver earns 15 lpa & conducter earns 13 lpa
I'm certainly in the wrong profession.
Its certainly not right. Could be around 3/4 lakhs after 20+ years.
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Old 22nd June 2022, 22:13   #63
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Re: Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class | A long time dream comes true

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Originally Posted by Sidban85 View Post
I have to travel Bangalore > Hyderabad next month and back, for a few weeks.
Will train or bus be more comfortable? From HSR to Hitech City?
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Originally Posted by jkrishnakj View Post
I do Blr-Hyd atleast once a month. If I’m not driving, I almost always take the Rajdhani express train. I’ve never tried the bus. I prefer trains for comfort. Board the train at 745 pm, eat a light dinner and a solid sleep for 7 hours is what I do.

If considering Bangalore > Hyderabad by train, you may want to check out the Duronto train that is faster than even the Rajdhani by ~2 hours.
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Old 23rd June 2022, 10:49   #64
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Re: Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class| A long time dream comes true

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Originally Posted by vigsom View Post
Anyways, with ruling fuel prices and a non-comensurate rise in fares, it is a losing proposition. Your numbers around D and C salaries is a revelation. I was thinking it would be something like ₹8 lacs tops per year.
Had an interaction recently with a veteran head mechanic at KaSRTC from the main Double Road Shantinagar depot which is home to all the premium service buses.

He said that most of the routine maintenance is done entirely at their workshop with the Volvo personnel providing technical assistance on requirement. They have a very tight turnaround time as the vehicle has to be ready and good to go for the next trip.

None of the luxury buses read as Volvo/ Scannia/ MB have a designated scrappage rule (kms or years) and are run till they are usable viably so that they can extract the maximum juice out of them. The only difference is that the older buses may be put to shorter services later in their lives for example Bangalore - Shivamogga etc. This is however different for the normal buses such as AL, Eicher and Tatas which are scrapped at around 11 lakh kms.

And outside this discussion, the 15 lakh figure may be considering the 2 sets of drivers / conductors per bus.
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Old 23rd June 2022, 16:14   #65
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Re: Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class| A long time dream comes true

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Originally Posted by PreludeSH View Post
Its certainly not right. Could be around 3/4 lakhs after 20+ years.
During a casual chat with driver of KSRTC from Bang to Palakkad, got to know his salary to be around 44,000 /- pm and employed with KSRTC for around 8 yrs.
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Old 23rd June 2022, 18:31   #66
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Re: Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class| A long time dream comes true

Quote:
Originally Posted by NTO View Post
With the price of the ticket you have mentioned, I felt that Karnataka SRTC would've made a loss with this trip and I wanted to do a Revenue calculation for the trip and took the exercise as follows.

Fixed Contribution Margin
Attachment 2323454
The usefull life of the bus you have shown is too low. Volvo recommends 12 years and 2million miles world wide.
In India it is 9 years, beyond which the law specifies fitness and inspection every 3 months for use on highway and in Metro (6) + DM (4) + 28 cities ie 38 cities.
Due to this Bus owners including STU's try to average 1100 km/ day and due to a few idle days run about 3.75 lakh km per year for first 5 years.
Most of these buses run happily from the 1 Lakh km oil change and service to its next 1 Lakh km service till about 17 to 20 Lakh km.
So no one bothers to disturb the set cycle of 15000 km or so per two weeks for 5 years when the bus is between 17 and 18 lakh km.
Then tactics change. Private owners sell the bus to their contract vendors, while STU's move the buses from premium routes to shorter routes. Bus bodies get rebuilt new upholstry sleeper converted to seater, or sleeper with new upholstry diverted to a 10-12 hr 500-700 km route.
The last 7 to 10 lakh km of its life are usually sedate.

Rahul
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Old 24th June 2022, 17:53   #67
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Re: Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class | A long time dream comes true

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Originally Posted by vigsom View Post
This is a review cum travel experience on my longest roadway ride this far – 1000 km from Mumbai to Bengaluru
It was a beautiful summary penned down by you vigsom and I enjoyed reading it thoroughly.
I traveled on Pune - Nagpur(750 kms) route in a sleeper Volvo almost a decade back. Your log refreshed those memories.

I was perched on the upper single berth and I didn’t enjoyed that. You just can’t sit with back straight. You have to either sleep or be always at ‘Seth ji ’ position as you mentioned.
It was a nightmare to me. I since then have never travelled in a sleeper Volvo.

However, I have used sleeper bus service from Kesineni travels quite a lot of time for Pune - Hyderabad travel and found them to be very comfortable. They used custom coach and their design was like railway AC sleeper coaches.

Thanks for sharing!
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Old 26th June 2022, 15:01   #68
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Re: Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class | A long time dream comes true

To me the main USP of Karnataka SRTC is safety. Their drivers are not in a hurry to get any incentives and there are enough crew to prevent overwork which can lead to fatigue/sleepiness
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Old 26th June 2022, 21:30   #69
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Re: Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class | A long time dream comes true

Just last month i booked a bus to Chennai. I did not get any number of driver, usually in TNSTC the bus number in ticket is always wrong(same in my case) to top it all off i booked an BY-pass rider but my bus came with different number and the board was for ECR, when i enquired randomly to the conductor then he said its By-pass rider and i checked the seat number , it had my name. This is the sad state of TNSTC.

So I completely agree. I once traveled from Karaikal to Bangalore in a Airavat class. Having experience sub-par and worse state of buses in TNSTC, i was blown away by theyr quality and cleanliness. Not to mention the kind staff which 80% of TNSTC buses lack. Seeing the KSRTC buses parked next to these TNSTC buses in CMBT bus terminal in Chennai its like comparing an base model Alto with an Top model Crysta.I Envy you guys for the quality of transportation services you get.
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Old 26th June 2022, 23:35   #70
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Re: Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class | A long time dream comes true

Excellent write up Vigsom! Having travelled from Gulbarga to Bangalore (2019) in a sleeper bus by a private provider, I had promised never to take a chance ever again. Last row upper double berths with the maximum shakes, reckless driving, all night honking, couple of bangs on the head when the driver didn't see road humps were only some of the many troubles

Last month after an unexpected flight cancellation, was forced to attempt a sleeper bus from Mangalore to Bangalore. To my pleasant surprise, the Ambari club class was a revelation. I echo what others have said, the Karnataka STC drivers make all the positive difference. Despite the bad roads in the Ghat section, the journey in second row Upper berth was so much better than any bus ride that I have ever attempted. They even announce pitstops in a hushed tone so that the strong bladdered co-passengers are not disturbed. Toilets at Sakleshpur bus station were the only let down in this route.

So yesterday, I chose not to travel by flights and returned safely by an Ambari in the same route. Tried the 4th row lower berth. In my experience, the second row upper berth from last time was more comfortable.

To conclude:
1. KaSRTC buses are the best for long distance travel if buses are your preferred mode of transport.
2. For overnight rides in Karnataka and nearby places, they trump all other modes of transport.
3. Ambari Club class is the best for those who have back issues.
4. 2nd and 3rd rows are the safest and most comfortable to travel in.

Inspired by @Vigsom, attaching a few photos of my ride and also some other giants parked nearby.
Attached Thumbnails
Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class | A long time dream comes true-20220625_212822.jpg  

Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class | A long time dream comes true-20220625_212840.jpg  

Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class | A long time dream comes true-20220625_212856.jpg  

Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class | A long time dream comes true-20220625_212917.jpg  

Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class | A long time dream comes true-20220625_212953.jpg  

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Old 27th June 2022, 09:00   #71
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Re: Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class | A long time dream comes true

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Originally Posted by Sidban85 View Post
I have to travel Bangalore > Hyderabad next month and back, for a few weeks.
Will train or bus be more comfortable? From HSR to Hitech City?
In 2004 I travelled from Hyderabad to Bangalore (Volvo bus) and I left 9pm at night and arrived early morning in B'lore. Great memories.
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Old 10th October 2022, 07:10   #72
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Re: Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class | A long time dream comes true

Hi,

Can someone help.

I am unable to find the site for booking this class of bus. In ksrtc site also Ambaari dream class option is not there.
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Old 10th October 2022, 12:56   #73
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Re: Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class | A long time dream comes true

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Originally Posted by Capri89 View Post
Hi,

Can someone help.

I am unable to find the site for booking this class of bus. In ksrtc site also Ambaari dream class option is not there.
Input your Departure, Destination, and Date, hit search bus. In the resulting list of bus services/routes shown, filter (on top) by Bus Type.

I hope you are searching on the official KSRTC site: https://ksrtc.in/

In case nothing turns up even after filtering it may be the case that KSRTC isn't running the Dream Class on your route. They do run it between most major cities.
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Old 20th December 2022, 12:11   #74
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Re: Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class | A long time dream comes true

My son had to take one of the Kundapura bound Ambaari services ex Bangalore. He said that the sleep was much better than what he gets on the train. Staff are always courteous, and display no hurry. Not one second of rash driving as well. One of those rare occasions where this 19 year old enjoyed a bus trip. The KA people know how bad the roads are to Mangalore/Udupi sides. The driver didn’t mince any words when he said that they can actually save One full hour if only those SH’s and NH’s are good.

I did manage to capture a couple pictures at Departure.

Talking of being courteous, I saw that they were waiting for one passenger. 5 mins prior to actually departure time, the staff actually called the passenger who conveyed his desire to board the bus at ‘goreguntepalya’ pick up point instead of Majestic. The staff didn’t even show signs of irritation and actually guided him to the very exact spot that he needs to wait for boarding.

The coach is very clean. So are the sheets. At 950 bucks for a 450 km journey over 8 hours it does seem more than reasonable.
Attached Thumbnails
Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class | A long time dream comes true-7d7b9ebe14434c7f9eb2764c3d203c38.jpeg  

Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class | A long time dream comes true-1a52a4b856834aa79aa782ebfc12bb1c.jpeg  

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Old 20th December 2022, 13:00   #75
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Re: Review: Mumbai to Bengaluru by Karnataka SRTC Ambaari Dream Class | A long time dream comes true

I use these so called govt buses as a 3rd option after self drive and Jan Shatabdi. I echo the comments. They are very professional, clean and a great un-tiring experience.

I just hope they reduce the amount of sticker-ing they have on the buses
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