[srikant]

Did a Bangalore-Hyderabad-Bangalore last week and here are my reviews:

Bangalore-Hyderabad by VRL Multiaxle Volvo and my preferred seat No 6

I had given my boarding point as Peenya ( Their pickup bus), and was given in the ticket to report at 8.30pm for the pickup at 8.45pm. When i reached their office i was informed that the pickup bus would come at 9pm. Sharp 9pm the pickup bus came and it was an AC Isuzu bus. Got into it and got dropped off at Anandarao circle at 10 pm. The boarding at Ananda Rao circle was said to be at 10.30pm for which i waited. Mean while noted some brand new B9R all registered AP 29. Thats when i understood they have about 3 B9R services to Hyderabad, expected one of those new ones, but the wait went on till 11pm and atlast the bus arrived, which was not so new KA regd, with about 2 lakh on the odo.

The bus finally left from there at 11.15 pm and the spare driver got to his berth in the front seat and started snoring. The driver in control was speeding dangerously to catch up with the lost time, included loud horns, frequent sudden brakes and this went on till 3am. Then there was a tea stop and the driver changed. The worst thing to happen was, when the previous driver got to his berth and removed his shoes, OMG it was stinking like hell and the entire bus was filled with the stinking smell. After requesting he moved his shoes but still the same condition.
The new driver was a little older and matured guy and the driving was smooth and very little horns, which could get me some sleep atlast. Got dropped off at Masab tank at 7.15AM.

Hyderabad-Bangalore Sharma Multiaxle volvo Seat no 3

Had booked my return ticket through REDBUS on the Greenline B9R with 1+1+1 after hearing about their new service. The bus was supposed to leave from Lakdikapul at 10.30 pm, but at 5pm i get an sms from REDBUS that my ticket has been cancelled. I immediately called their customer care, where the person tells me that i have initiated the cancellation request, which made me furious since i had to travel back the same night. After several arguments, he says that the Greenline bus itself is cancelled for the day and hence i need to find another bus to travel in. Luckily could find my favorite second row left side seat on the Sharma Multiaxle service. Called their office and found that, the bus would leave from Nampally at 9pm. But again as usual the bus came in only at 9.30 pm. There lies my next surprise, it was a pretty old B9R bus and the seat no3 which showed in second row on left was actually on 1st row. Tried reaching for the seat belt but that was not working. However tried to settle myself there. The worst part of this bus was, he stopped at all possible places trying to load luggage and people to fill up seats, finally by the time we left Hyderabad, it was actually 11pm. The driving was sedate and could catch with some sleep, but was frequently disturbed almost every 2 hours where he picked up people and dropped people. Reminded me of Old KSRTC service which would stop at all possible stops enroute. Atlast got dropped off at Hebbal at 7am. I would never recommend this service to anybody.

[LithiumSunset]

Originally Posted by srikant

...Multiaxle Volvo and my preferred seat No. 6...

...Luckily could find my favorite second row left side seat on the Sharma Multiaxle service...

Just curious here. Could you and other frequent travelers on these buses explain their seat preferences? (Although Srikant, you seem to have more than one favourite.)

I am thinking the second row left aisle seat allows to observe the driver and his antics...

[srikant]

Originally Posted by LithiumSunset

Just curious here. Could you and other frequent travelers on these buses explain their seat preferences? (Although Srikant, you seem to have more than one favourite.)

I am thinking the second row left aisle seat allows to observe the driver and his antics...

I don't know about others. But I always prefer second or third row on the left side for the reason that as you go backwards on the Volvo, there is higher blower sound towards Centre of the bus and engine sound towards rear of the bus. Front rows are more silent. Next thing is left side is supposed to be safer as majority accidents effect more on driver side.

[TKMCE]

Originally Posted by LithiumSunset

Just curious here. Could you and other frequent travelers on these buses explain their seat preferences? (Although Srikant, you seem to have more than one favourite.)

I am thinking the second row left aisle seat allows to observe the driver and his antics...

There are a few seats tp AVOID if you are travelling in KaSRTC Multi Axles both Volvos and Mercs. The "Sleep like a Baby" stickers will obscure your views from the window almost completely in a couple of rows. I forgot the seat numbers but it is somewhere in the middle.

Also in the KeSRTC (Kerala) Non AC 2 x 2 super deluxe buses, I think the first row left handside window seat is reserved for the spare driver (in the longer routes like Kottarakkara/Thiruvalla etc),. Atleast in the case of the Thiruvalla super deluxe, unless the bus is totally full, many of the crew do not appreciate anyone taking the seat next to their reserved seat.. I have seen a few drivers being outright rude in asking pax to move out to another seat (an aberration on an otherwise well run highly regarded service). Not that it is a seat of choice anyway as in the case of the Thiruvalla bus the crew has a rest period at BLR for around 10-12 hours and most if the time the spare driver will be chatting with his colleagues. But that said the bus was one of my favorites, always on time, the crew were generally friendly and efficient . I was on the bus on the day of the India Pakistan cricket World Cup Semi Final and the second driver and conductor were following the match (as were a lot of the people in the bus) and they passed around the news of the indian victory when the bus reached Salem.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by TKMCE

There are a few seats tp AVOID if you are travelling in KaSRTC Multi Axles both Volvos and Mercs. The "Sleep like a Baby" stickers will obscure your views from the window almost completely in a couple of rows. I forgot the seat numbers but it is somewhere in the middle.

The seats are 37W and 40W in ACC Benz, and 33W and 37W in ACC Volvo. (ACC = Airavat Club Class). These seats are totally "opaque" to the outside world. (Seat numbers vary between the Volvo and the Benz because the older Volvo Multiaxles of KSRTC have a full size emergency exit door, due to which the total number of seats is only 47. However, the new buses have exactly the same numbering as Benz buses).

In case of the new Kallada B11Rs, the seats to be avoided are K4, J4, H1, G1. The windows of these seats are masked by the huge "B11R" stickers.

Generally, I prefer a window seat on the right side of the bus, around 4th or 5th rows. Middle rows are best avoided since the AC unit tends to make a lot of noise. Back rows, especially the ones right above the axles (around 3-4 rows from the last) have very good ride quality - but one has to bear with the engine sound (I, personally, am a big fan of the sound - so love those seats as well).

[ranjithrnath]

Originally Posted by TKMCE

KeSRTC was also provided buses by Volvo for trials along with KaSRTC. I think KeSRTC brought 2 of them originally.

Here are some pics of the KeSRTC Volvo B7Rs. The bonnet Nos were TP 620/621.




They were bought by SHAMA and later scrapped for spare parts.

[balajird]

My first attempt on Inter City travel review; (Hyderabad - Chennai)

I booked APSRTC Volvo for Hyderabad to Chennai on 8th Feb (Friday) at 8:00 PM, was surprised to hear that they canceled this service and merged with 9:00 PM Multi Axle service. Boarded the Mercedes-Benz Multi axle bus at 8:30 PM at MGBS with AC running at 22 deg, the bus has clocked ~1.8L Kms and there were two drivers and the staff was very courteous.

Though the bus is fairly new, it had lot of squeaks, rattles and the road noise was audible inside the cabin, the ride was a little bumpy and I wasnt feeling that comfortable (mine was third row from the front). Good thing is there were individual speaker and light buttons (that worked) and the seat was a bit spacious, they also served a half litre water bottle. The bad thing is that the rug they provided was a bit stinky. The ride took a good 12.5 hours from MGBS to chennai Koyambedu with almost 30 minutes stop at Nellore and 40 minutes stop for dinner. The ride was okay as I was able to sleep for atleast 3 - 4 hours continuously. I dont think there were frequent breaks and overall an average journey. (Negatives - bumpy ride, stinky rug, long journey hours. Positives - smooth driving, courteous staff, spacious seat (may be an inch or two more than volvo) and on time)

Return journey was on Dhananjaya travels from Chennai to Hyderabad yesterday, I was surprised to see the bus full inspite of being Monday as a travel date. The bus is a volvo 9400 Multi Axle service and left Koyambedu on dot at 8:00 PM. The ride was comparatively better than Benz and in spite of ~4.8L Kms, there were no squeaks or rattles in the bus, the road noise was comparatively lesser than Benz and was manageable. Due to some irresponsible passengers (a bunch of them) who sat right in the first row (I was in second row) there were frequent delays. These guys were drunk, were arguing with the driver (and putting him in stress), took frequent pee break, were puking in to a carry bag with awkward noises right through the night and caused all sorts of trouble. The driver was annoyed at 6 in the morning when these guys asked for another break and thats when I got to know that it was 13 breaks through the night. In spite of all these the bus entered Hyderabad around 6:15, I got off at KPHB around 7:45 AM. A good 11:45 running time from Chennai to Hyd (KPHB) is really good. I was able to reach office around 8:20 AM which is great. (negatives - noisy low quality speakers, no independent speaker off facility, a bit rash driving (may be due to those folks), no water bottle, had to end up buying one mid way, a bit crampy seat (may be compared to Benz this is a bit cramped), positives - on time, excellent running time, courteous staff, rug was fresh, AC set at 24 degrees (which is good), well maintained bus.) Overall a good journey in Dhananjaya.

I have now booked Kesineni for this weekend travel, lets see how it goes.

[racer_ash]

Sector: Hyderabad to Goa
Travel company: SVR Tours and Travels
Bus type: Volvo Multi-axle semi-sleeper
Distance (one-way): approx 690kms
Road Condition: Excellent upto the diversion at Mahbubnagar. Average upto Belgaum. Ghat roads before Goa were very bad. But the volvo literally ate each pothole without much fuss.

This was my first trip to Goa and I had many expectations from the trip as a whole but not many expectations about the to and fro journey. First reason being, since it was a last minute booking, I ended up being in the third last row of seats (both to and fro). Second, my friend who had to accompany me from Hyd, dropped out at the last minute and hence it was a boring journey especially after sunset as nothing much is visible from the outside.

Coming to the review part: The bus was a fairly well maintained Volvo B9400 with red livery (AP***0666). It had clocked more that 1L kms (as I could make out 6 digits on the ODO with the first digit being 1). This bus was going to be my travel companion both for the onward and return journey. The sheer size of this beast would prove to be useful when negotiating the tight curves at the ghat section before Goa. Oncoming vehicles would need to simply stop right at their tracks just by the mere sight of this monster hurtling their way.

My boarding point was ameerpet at 630pm and as expected, SVR's minivan came to pick us up from there. The buses were stationed near METRO at Kukatpally Y junction. This part of the journey was best forgettable because of the presence of very limited leg space in the minivan and also because it was stuffed with lots of people and their luggages. The bus, in comparison was a pleasant surprise. The rugs provided were neat and smelled good. The seats were neat and even had those cushioned supports for the lower legs which could be raised. There was a working charging point provided for each row of seat. The journey started off at around 8pm and it was uneventful throughout. There were not many rattles and squeaks and the ride was good even in the last few rows of seats. We stopped for dinner after Jadcherla in a fairly decent hotel. The actual arrival time was 7:30am at Panjim. But by the time we reached Ponda, it was 8am. But what really frustrated me was when the bus stopped midway between Ponda and Panjim for filling up fuel. I had to watch helplessly as the Volvo gulped down around 500 litres of Diesel fuel which took almost half an hour. We finally reached Panjim at 1030, 3 hours late

The return journey was pretty much the same. We started at 6pm from the private bus stop at Madovi Bridge in Panjim. This time, in place of the fuel stop, the border check post stop took up more than half an hour of time as the Karnataka police searched and shook each and every bag for concealed liquor. Worried people were running around getting permits for the bottles they carried from Goa. Dinner was a Belgaum at 1030pm, by which time my hunger had totally vanished. We arrived at Ameerpet at 730 in the morning, exactly on time

Overall, I would rate the SVR multi-axle service a 7 out of 10 on an average for Bus quality, Punctuality and Staff behaviour.

[venki.bala]

Originally Posted by balajird

My first attempt on Inter City travel review; (Hyderabad - Chennai)

I have now booked Kesineni for this weekend travel, lets see how it goes.

Which service in kesineni Have you booked? the first one is very good in terms of timing generally and drops you at Central by 7.30 am. Second one starts late in the night. Make sure you get Water bottle and dinner. All these buses stop at a Dhaba at around 10 PM on the way to Nagarjuna sagar, not a great place. Kesineni will also be aggressive in terms of driving.

[balajird]

Originally Posted by venki.bala

Which service in kesineni Have you booked? the first one is very good in terms of timing generally and drops you at Central by 7.30 am. Second one starts late in the night. Make sure you get Water bottle and dinner. All these buses stop at a Dhaba at around 10 PM on the way to Nagarjuna sagar, not a great place. Kesineni will also be aggressive in terms of driving.

Thanks Venkatesh, unfortunately I have to book the late night one (at 09:50 PM at Kondapur). I will probably have dinner by 8 and have a bottle of water with me. Thanks for the heads up, I have booked the first row seat assuming I might get a better leg / knee room, I had troubles with the second and third row. Hope this turns up good.

[venki.bala]

Originally Posted by balajird

Thanks Venkatesh, unfortunately I have to book the late night one (at 09:50 PM at Kondapur). I will probably have dinner by 8 and have a bottle of water with me. Thanks for the heads up, I have booked the first row seat assuming I might get a better leg / knee room, I had troubles with the second and third row. Hope this turns up good.

If it is left side first row, the window seat is allocated for the Driver. You should some time try the sleeper buses little better in terms of comfort. the first row seats are better in leg/knee room.

[balajird]

Originally Posted by venki.bala

If it is left side first row, the window seat is allocated for the Driver. You should some time try the sleeper buses little better in terms of comfort. the first row seats are better in leg/knee room.

Yes, it is the left side first row and obviously it is the aisle seat. Hopefully this should be good. Unfortunately, due to the start time, I cannot opt for sleeper buses. Will share the experience later.

[unk9ja]

Saw 3 Leyland Luxuria buses inside the Sharma garage on Hosur road near Siddapura signal yesterday. The registration numbers were being painted on them starting with NL.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by unk9ja

Saw 3 Leyland Luxuria buses inside the Sharma garage on Hosur road near Siddapura signal yesterday. The registration numbers were being painted on them starting with NL.

Are any running regularly with any of the fleet operators? What happened to the ones with Kesineni?

[unk9ja]

Yeah one with orange decals has been regularly running from this garage. See it going into/ coming out most of days when I go/ return from work. No idea about the Kesineni service though