[AlphaKilo]

Originally Posted by cnaganathan

1. The driver being a young guy was driving a bit aggressive cutting across lanes and overtaking too close to other vehicles.
2. The seats were a bit hard and the lack of the usual dinner break was a bit tiresome.
3. Food options were limited to a Snack plate (Sandwich + 2 Dhal Vada + one cup cake for 100/-) or a Dinner Plate (Rice + 2 Chappathis + a small serving of subji for 125/-). There was no coffe or tea and only sodas were available.
4. The promised WiFi was not working.
5. Towards the end of the journey whenever someone used the toilet there was a noticeable stink in the air.
6. The headphone position for the first row pax was bad (it was behind the head rest as an additional socket in the next row pax's monitor)
7. The tethered remote controls were a messy appendage.
8. There was also an appreciable delay at each toll booth since the crew were trying to use the smart card of the earlier bus. Since that was a regular volvo and this was a multi axle, the toll booth employees would argue and the bus crew will then part with the additional cost.

We were told that this was a trial run. And in my opinion this will not succeed in the long run for the following reasons:

1. Food chocies unless improved may lead to poor patronage of the pantry and may make it unviable.
2. The elimination of the dinner stop leads to fatigue for the crew - a 7 - 7.5 hr non stop drive IMO is quite stressfull.
3. In my case, if I leave the office another 45 mins early and catch the Shatabdi, I will be home at least 2 hrs earlier as well as spend a lot lesser.

well written! Nicely pointed out. Actually, you are very correct by saying that regulars will shy away from this service if the quality is not maintained or the service not improved. In either sense, I see this a very challenging task ahead for KSRTC. I hope they come out with flying colours.

[TKMCE]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Ohh! I had spotted this bus yesterday morning at Madiwala. I was at the Kallada office a while before the guys went to the bus for checking tickets! Great to know that the day service is now going well.

It is a good service and an excellent last minute option. But I dont think this service will last much longer because it seems to be poorly patronised. There were about 20 people when it started from Bangalore, about 4 got down at Salem. another 8 got down at the Coimbatore byepass and a family of 3 got on), arnd 3-4 got down at Pallakad and after Trichur there were just about 7 of us . The bus reached Anagamaly at 7 PM (10 hours during the day is excellent) and I then took a local bus back home. The dinner stop was at Hotel Aryas at Perdundurai - meals were okay although a little expensive and the movies was good - didnt see the first one but the second was a fairly recent Dilip starrer. The only jarring part was that in the afternoon, the music played was too loud. The people who got on from Coimbatore was a family from Europe and after multiple times complaning about the volume, the gentleman went and reduced the volume himself Other than this small irritant it was fine. Please note that the service starts/ends at Madivala and does not go further.

The KaSRTC fare is around 870 for a Multi Axle btween Bangalore and Ernakulam,and I think Kallada should now revise the fare of the day service down to 800 or so they will still get more people. Charging 1050 on a half empty day service doesnt make any sense as people will as well try to travel in the night or take the interity express train.

Other than that it is an excellent option.

On the return it was my usual 1828 Merc Multi Axle of KaSRTC from Ernakulam. Boarded at Aluva. Since i know seats were available, I went to my regular travel agent in Aluva who has an agency for KaSRTC (Zam Zam travels) to book - only to be told I cant book - there is no power till 6 PM and the ticket printer wont work and there is no alternative. The guys sugguested Kallada. I thought I would try my luck next door at Sona Travels. They also didnt have power but they arranged a booking through the authorised agent at Ernakulam for an additonal 40 Rs and was was told the ticket would be the normal KaSRTC one and will be given by the conductor in the bus. Was told there is nothing to worry and indeed everything went as per the script. They gave me the bus number after checking with the Ernakulam agent and and as promised, the bus stopped at Aluva (where thte boarding point was specified) and the preprinted reservation ticket was handed over by the conductor when I boarded.

I prefer this particular service because of two reasons - a The dinner break is at a very clean place and reasonable one also - Hotel Jubilee after Angamaly and 2 More important - the bus reaches between 0630 and 0700 at Majestic. Highly recommended!!!!

[coolclouds]

Kallada took delivery of their 50th bus and for Mumbai route, I guess they are jointly operating with National Travels.

Edit: (Image added from Kallada FB)

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by TKMCE

It is a good service and an excellent last minute option. But I dont think this service will last much longer because it seems to be poorly patronised. There were about 20 people when it started from Bangalore, about 4 got down at Salem. another 8 got down at the Coimbatore byepass and a family of 3 got on), arnd 3-4 got down at Pallakad and after Trichur there were just about 7 of us .

This service has been running since August 2011 (completing one year of service now). They have been getting good loads during weekends and festivals, plus the pairing service (the day bus always returns as night bus) has very good loads. Since they are not paying any additional tax for this service, I believe the service would continue.

Running only night would require two buses, now they are running day+night with two buses.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Kallada took delivery of their 50th bus and for Mumbai route, I guess they are jointly operating with National Travels....

I guess Kallada has attached its bus to National for this service. was this a practice earlier?

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

I guess Kallada has attached its bus to National for this service. was this a practice earlier?

They are tied up with Jabbar Travels for their Ernakulam-Hyderabad service IIRC

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

I guess Kallada has attached its bus to National for this service. was this a practice earlier?

They usually tie up with a reputed operator in that route/destination when they start new services in new territories. For Ernakulam-Hyderabad bus, they had tied up with Jabbar. Their new service from Kozhikode does not have the tie up though!

Originally Posted by coolclouds

They are tied up with Jabbar Travels for their Ernakulam-Hyderabad service IIRC

Yes.. you remembered it correctly. Their EKM-Hyderabad bus has Jabbar stickers as well.

[TKMCE]

Originally Posted by binaiks

This service has been running since August 2011 (completing one year of service now). They have been getting good loads during weekends and festivals, plus the pairing service (the day bus always returns as night bus) has very good loads. Since they are not paying any additional tax for this service, I believe the service would continue.

Running only night would require two buses, now they are running day+night with two buses.

I would definitely love it if it continues. Although expensive the service was really a boon for me when I had to make the last minute trip. Bus while definitely not the newest was well maintained , AC was working well and I really had a comofrtable journey . And as mentioned in my earlier post, I could also get through some work on my laptop due to good signal strength on my Reliance Net Konnect till Salem (except the Ghat section).No un necessary stops either, I guess due to the bus having to return back the same day. And quite a few of the passengers were clearly regulars on this service.

[coolclouds]

Raj Travels founder, Mr. Lalit Sheth passed away yesterday. His company was reportedly under huge debts.

Raj Travels was one of the leading bus operator with a large Volvo fleet and presence throughout the country. They expanded very fast but couldn't sustain their services.

May his soul RIP.

[TKMCE]

More than the bus operation business (which came much later), Raj Travel was one of the leading "home grown" overseas tour operators. They specialised in tours with "desi" comforts- they offered Indian Meals on their tours to US and Europe, a huge draw for the Maharastra/Gujarat clientele who used to have difficulties with western food. Regarding the bus operation , I believe they expanded too fast too soon and I guess depended too much on franchisees (If I am not wrong their Kerala buses were run from an office at Irinjalakuda). Never the less it was a brave attempt to set modern standards and bring some much needed discipline to a very disorganised sector. They also had dynamic pricing - 100 Rs fares were offered on some departures on Pune Mumbai. He was a pioneer!

[aroonanand]

Originally Posted by TKMCE

Regarding the bus operation , I believe they expanded too fast too soon and I guess depended too much on franchisees (If I am not wrong their Kerala buses were run from an office at Irinjalakuda). Never the less it was a brave attempt to set modern standards and bring some much needed discipline to a very disorganised sector. They also had dynamic pricing - 100 Rs fares were offered on some departures on Pune Mumbai. He was a pioneer!

I have travelled by Raj National Express Volvos and found them to be extremely good - was a pity they wound up soon. Used them on Blr - Chennai and Mumbai - Indore sectors and they were the only one at that time to have amicable English speaking crew who could also attend to the needs of the passengers (similar to the Olivea stewards). Also, if I recall, their Volvos were the first to have 2 LCD screens, and all seats had sockets to plug head phones if one wanted to view the movie.. So those not interested could sleep peacefully as the sound was not audible to those not plugged in ! Also remember an incident on the Indore - Mumbai leg when a drunk passenger started smoking inside the bus and did not heed the requests / instructions of co-passengers and the crew to stop smoking. At one point, he slapped the co-driver and the crew handled the issue very well by offloading him at the nearest town en-route !!

A pity they did not last too long - else would have been very good to have a pan India operator in the unorganized private transport sector.

[autotranny]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Their new service from Kozhikode does not have the tie up though!

Just when we think Kallada is ready to raise their game to the next level, their customer service woes crop up again.

My colleague's father was coming to Hyd from Calicut by this morning's bus. Their scheduled drop off point was Miyapur, but all of a sudden the crew decide that they will be terminating their service in Lakdi ka Pul which is a good 20 kms away and an hour's drive by car. They are still very unprofessional in this respect when compared to Kesineni and all.

[AvinashV]

Two weeks back traveled to Bangalore from Mumbai & made it a point to book tickets on two different services to get to know which are the better ones.
For my onward journey took National travels. They were amazingly punctual. My reporting time was 3 45 in Mumbai with departure at 4 which means most of us reach by 3 59 or thereafter. But this bus had already reached by 3 45 & they were calling me on my phone to know where i was . Reached Bangalore by 8 next morning or there around which is the time they had mentioned in the ticket. Was really impressed.

On my return journey it was Sharma transports which was the opposite in punctuality. Reached their "stop" at 2 15 for the 2 30 bus which finally at 3 they put us into a tempo which acted like a feeder service & took us to Kalasipalayam with a driver who was driving like he had just stepped out of the shooting of Speed for a break. Bus which was supposed to reach by 8 the next morning in Mumbai reached only by around 10 with numerous stops in between for everything from tea in the morning to even a breakfast stop 30 minutes later. So yeah the next time Mumbai Bangalore, it's going to be National & some other player i guess.

[binaiks]

Traveled by Kallada G4 from Madiwala to Thrissur last night. The bus was KA-01-AA-7723 (the Yellow coloured one in the first lot). The scheduled departure from Madiwala was at 2130 - but the bus came from Kalasipalya only at 2128. We started from Madiwala at 2151hrs after ticket checking and tallying with passenger list. There were two drivers and one cleaner. The bus was more or less full. The seat in front of me was empty (mine was #32) - so could catch up with some good sleep. The driver was pretty quick right from the beginning. There was heavy traffic upto Krishnagiri - due to ongoing road works. They played a movie at 2200, which went on till 0015hrs. After the movie got over, no body bothered to switch off the TV or close the rear LCD. The bus stopped for a break some where near Thoppur, right after a toll booth. When the bus stopped for a break, one passenger got up and closed the rear LCD. The second driver was sleeping on the floor at this time.

I slept after the bus started from the break, and slept all the way to Walayar. Woke up just when the bus stopped at a traffic block near Walayar - it was literally pouring outside at the time. I slept off before the bus started from Walayar. Sometime around 0430hrs, all the lights were switched on and the cleaner shouted out Palakkad - the bus was near Palakkad KSRTC stand. Nobody got down - but the cleaner managed to disturb everybody. After this, the bus went via Ottapalam, Shoranur, Wadakkanchery. It was raining all the time - but the driver was still very fast. Some cuts scared me - especially considering the fact that it was raining heavily. The bus stopped very often - nobody was getting down though. WE finally reached Thrissur at 0550hrs. The last few kms from Viyyur to Thrissur round was very very rash - some seriously bad cuts and lots of honking. The bus had done 2.26lakh kms - was well maintained. AC was set at very comfortable temperature (the crew get brownie points for that).

The first two B9Rs of Kallada G4 do not have speakers on the luggage rack - but the standard speakers in every AC console. Those speakers are far better compared to the luggage rack one - sound appears very balanced, and the passenger gets proper distribution of sound. The hatrack speakers literally strain the ears because the sound is either from the front or the back, or from one side for the passenger.

About the service:
1. Spare driver sleeping on the gangway - recipe for disaster if there is an accident. Too unprofessional.
2. No unwanted tea breaks - but the bus did stop many times for reasons unknown.
3. Crew were well behaved to the passengers - the driver greeted regular passengers.
4. Nobody bothered to switch off the TV after the movie got over.
5. Switching on all the cabin lights and shouting out loud disturbing all the passengers.

I do not want to make conclusions here.... I'd rate the service 4 on 5.

Edit: An old photo of the bus:

[n.devdath]

I need to go to Hyderabad today to get a shot of yellow fever before my travel to Africa and hence have booked the KSRTC Mercedes service leaving Shanti Nagar at 2144hrs and return via KSRTC Airavat from Hyderabad at 17:15Hrs (single axle Volvo)

Both seats are Seat No: 1W.

Is this a good choice? I will share my experience once I m back.