[metropolis]

Traveled from Hyderabad to Tirupati by APSRTC A/c bus, tickets booked online and the experience was superb! Right from their office to the driver, everyone was helping. The bus was very comfortable indeed and the arrangement of lodging and taking further to the temple was all organized by them only (really good). The bus left on right time and stooped at good joints for food etc. I feel much better as compared to boarding a train or flight which everybody advised.

[manduvindupondu]

I stay in Hyderabad and completed a Bangalore trip for Ugadi (13, 14, 15).

My trip details:

Hyd-Bangalore on 12 night @22:25 (Sharma Multiaxle Volvo)

Positives:

• One of the last buses out of Hyderabad and a pick up at Madhapur

Negatives

• No proper cover for inside tubelight and every time he switches it on, my sleep got disturbed
• Too many stops enroute
• Picks up passengers enroute
• 1000 rs per head is high
• No tidbits - water, biscuits

Return
Bangalore - Hyderabad (SRS Multiaxle Volvo service is Mys - Hyderabad)

Positives:

• Rs 630 per head

Negatives

• Stinking blankets
• No cover for tubelight (Plz see Sindhu, Kaveri bus to understand what I mean)
• Wonder why he kept circling LK Pul when he could have just dropped people and proceeded towards KPHB
• Long travel time - 8.5 hours from Majestic to LK Pul
• 45 minutes late start at Yelahanka
• Rude staff

[aroonanand]

Originally Posted by silversteed

The bus reached Palakkad at 6 o'clock in the morning, an hour and fifteen minutes behind schedule.

Originally Posted by binaiks

I avoid KaSRTC like plague in the Bangalore-Thrissur route, but prefer them in the opposite direction.

Originally Posted by silversteed

This has been my preferred service for the weekend. I was dropped at Palakkad at 5-ish on 6th morning.

+1 to what Binaiks mentioned - I have travelled a fair bit on KaSRTC in the last year to various destinations such as Thrissur, Palakkad, Coimbatore, Ooty, Kannur etc and on all occasions, outward leg has been bad. buses reach the platform in Shanti nagar around 20-30 mins late on an average on weekends and driving has always been really slow, resulting in late arrivals anywhere between an hour to a few hours !

And on all these legs, return journey by KaSRTC has been exemplary - timely departure and on time / ahead of time arrival at Bangalore !

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by silversteed

This has been my preferred service for the weekend. I was dropped at Palakkad at 5-ish on 6th morning.

You were lucky. Out of all my journeys in KaSRTC to Kerala, I've been dropped on time (or atleast within 30 minutes of scheduled time) only twice!

Originally Posted by aroonanand

And on all these legs, return journey by KaSRTC has been exemplary - timely departure and on time / ahead of time arrival at Bangalore !

Very true! They've always been on time on all my trips to Bangalore by KaSRTC - including one experience in a day service from Hyderabad!!

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by metropolis

Traveled from Hyderabad to Tirupati by APSRTC A/c bus,

Was this Indra Ac. How much was the fare?

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by aroonanand

+1 to what Binaiks mentioned - I have travelled a fair bit on KaSRTC in the last year to various destinations such as Thrissur, Palakkad, Coimbatore, Ooty, Kannur etc and on all occasions, outward leg has been bad. buses reach the platform in Shanti nagar around 20-30 mins late on an average on weekends and driving has always been really slow, resulting in late arrivals anywhere between an hour to a few hours !

And on all these legs, return journey by KaSRTC has been exemplary - timely departure and on time / ahead of time arrival at Bangalore !

Originally Posted by binaiks

You were lucky. Out of all my journeys in KaSRTC to Kerala, I've been dropped on time (or atleast within 30 minutes of scheduled time) only twice!

I am not surprised at all! In fact, this is the only service that gets me dropped in Palakkad at around 5 o'clock. I'd tried the BNGEKM Merc ACC, 2205BNGPGT ACC and various special services at different times of the year - the only reason I would've booked those tickets would've been to catch some sleep and the comfy ride, having to forego an on-time arrival at Palakkad. If I am headed to Kerala for a few days in a stretch, I never take KaSRTC. The KSRTC 2100 Super Deluxe is always my preferred service. They drop me before time either ways.

At one instance, the crew lost their way inside Bangalore city, and ended up missing the left turn towards St.John's hospital. Finally, they somehow turned around, came back to pick up the 20-30 pax waiting to board, more than an hour late. But the bus entered Palakkad depot at 6:25 or so - just 15 minutes behind schedule, despite leaving very very late and also braving the heavy festival traffic.

KaSRTC has the means and the buses, but they are too sluggish on most of their trips out of Bangalore. KeSRTC makes do with what they have, but they maintain time.

[luvurride]

I have an interesting incident to report.

On Dec 13th, I boarded a KPN Executive Sleeper A/C bus from Madurai to Bangalore. The bus looked and smelled new and I was happy! The bus even left on time at 9.45 pm.

We were only about 10 passengers in total being a week day. I was booked in a single lower birth and got talking to the other two passengers who were booked across my berth. One of them being his first trip with KPN, wanted to alight in Krishnagiri and wasn't sure if the bus would stop. I told him to inform the attender in the front and even offered to do it for him.

When I reached the driver's cabin, I was shocked to see just the driver and no attender! I asked the driver and he said that nobody bothered to join him. Then I told him the other passenger's need to alight at Krishnagiri and the driver said he will call out when he reaches Krishnagiri. The passenger, satisifed, went back to his berth.

Since the night was too young for me to catch my sleep, I asked the driver if I could sit alongside in the front. He was fine with it and I pulled out the folded attender seat and sat with him. I was chit chatting about the route and his experience and so on.

The bus by then reached the bye-pass turn off and while making the right turn the driver had to slam brakes as a Bolero cut him off to make a left. But I observed that the bus pulled a little too much to the right. We continued some 5-10 odd kms to join the 4-lane NH-7 at Samayanallur. As soon as he joined the NH, the driver pulled over and got down. I assumed he might've wanted to take a leak. But he got back in 2 mins and resumed driving.

I casually checked with him if everything is alight and then he started mouthing all foul words possible in Tamil about Sundaram Motors. Apparently, the vehicle had just come back from TVS workshop that day after a fresh coat of painting. The mechanics have forgotten to tighten the brake drum and hence the brakes were applying only on 3 sides. The front left wheel had no braking and hence the veering to the right. He even displayed it again to me by braking hard and boy, it was scary to say the least!

But the biggest of all worries was he showed no means of fixing it!! When I asked, he said he could drive down to Salem and have the KPN mechanic take a look at it. If he stopped mid-way to fix, KPN will not reimburse him as this might increase malpractices. I had no other option than to bang my head!

But then again, I was mentally prepared by then to do something about it and slowly started talking to him about changing his mind by saying he should not drive like this, people's lives are more important than money, he is risking everyone's lives, etc. We had reached Kodai road by then.

Finally, as a savior, he got a call from Dindigul KPN office asking him to pick up one passenger at Dindigul. I used this opportunity and asked him to check with them for any mechanic available to fix this. I even offered him to pay. He then reluctantly checked with them and was furious when those idiots were so prompt in telling him that under no circumstances they would pay for it! Since I had already offered him to pay, he told them to check for the availability of mechanic anyway.

We finally reached the Pazhani turn-off in Dindigul bye-pass and stopped to pickup the passenger. The mechanic was not there, but fortunately, the passenger was also not there yet. I again insisted on speaking to the single KPN staff there who came to help board the passenger. He then called up his office, got the number of the mechanic. The driver spoke to the mechanic and asked him to come. Apparently, the KPN office, whom the driver spoke to earlier, did not even bother to call the mechanic!!

Anyway, whilst waiting, I offered the driver a tea and we went to have it from the nearby shop. By then, the passenger arrived and guess what, he had been directed to the wrong bus! He was booked in a Volvo that leaves a little later! Thanks again to the goof-up by the KPN office, we stopped at Dindigul and had a chance to get the mechanic! The mechanic also arrived promptly within 10 mins of our call and fixed the brakes in 5 mins flat! I paid him Rs.100 and then we left Dindigul peacefully, atleast for me, as the rest of the passengers knew nothing of this and were sleeping comfortably!

In spite of all the delay, he reached Bangalore at 5.00 am.

I don't want to sound superstitious or spooky, but I had a feeling of discomfort from the day I booked the sleeper bus that something was not right. When I first heard the news from driver, I was assured that my hunch was right. Thankfully, instead of panicking, I started to act on getting it fixed. I'm sure all travelers who've used KPN service before know how rude their drivers are. I had to slow talk him without hurting his ego to get him do this my way, I'm happy and thankful to the almighty that things turned out well.

[raju2512]

Excellent work luvurride

Please highlight to KPN management and also through media. I feel that you could have alerted all the other passengers so that you could have forcedthe KPN guy in Dindugal to talk to his management and get the repair done.

[luvurride]

Originally Posted by raju2512

Excellent work luvurride

Please highlight to KPN management and also through media. I feel that you could have alerted all the other passengers so that you could have forcedthe KPN guy in Dindugal to talk to his management and get the repair done.

Thanks! I agree I should have alerted other passengers, but like I said, the KPN drivers are rude to the core. He may even turn unruly if all of us had confronted him.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by luvurride

Thanks! I agree I should have alerted other passengers, but like I said, the KPN drivers are rude to the core. He may even turn unruly if all of us had confronted him.

Good job luvurride!

But what all have suggested is right. Highlight this matter to their higher up and media also as it is too dangerous for an operator to be so casual about passenger safety.

Human life cannot be taken for granted like this right?! Had you not spoken and got those repairs done that drive till destination would have been a nightmare.

Anurag.

[luvurride]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Good job luvurride!

But what all have suggested is right. Highlight this matter to their higher up and media.

Anurag.

Anurag,

You can call me complacent or coward, but I have lost faith in all forms of justice and humanity in our Indian system. I do not have the time to highlight these issues as I know for well that it will be of no use. What we live in today is nothing but a rat race where every rat wants to beat the other.

Even in my case here, first, TVS' quality checks are too bad to have left the brakes like that, second, the driver could've called his shots saying he will not drive the bus until the brakes are fixed, and third the worst, KPN office would rather jeopardize their passengers' safety than paying out of their pocket!

I do not think I can go and change any of this. I have tried it for 5 years since my return from US, but have failed miserably and have given up, although I feel ashamed to admit. Even for media, this will be just another story to their ratings! When we live in a world where everything is perceived as materialistic matters, why bother?

My rant in this forum is just a way of putting out my experience as it might help one or another on how to act on such situations and maybe to be aware of the fact that when we board a bus assuming all is well, in reality, it might not!!

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by luvurride

Anurag,

You can call me complacent or coward, but I have lost faith in all forms of justice and humanity in our Indian system. I do not have the time to highlight these issues as I know for well that it will be of no use. What we live in today is nothing but a rat race where every rat wants to beat the other.

I am sorry buddy. I guess you have misunderstood me. I have complimented you for what you have done and just a thought of highlighting such an issue not forcing you in any way to highlight.

Nothing against you buddy. Sorry.

Anurag.

[TKMCE]

Need some information on buses between Chennai and Kochi

Which is the first multi axle/ A/c sleeper bus which reaches Aluva from Chennai? I have an international flight to catch at 12 Noon on the same day and would need to reach Aluva (not the airport) by 7 AM latest.

Similarly which is the first bus which reaches CMBT Chennai form Kochi??? I would need to reach by 7AM at CMBT.

Other than KPN, I have no "must avoid " operators. Do all the Chennai Kochi buses enter Coimbatore town or do they go via the bye pass in both directions?

By the way travel on Chennai Kochi is on a Thursday , so since I have a Friday flight to catch, please suggest a bus which generally has high chances of operating as if they cancel and bump me to a later bus I may get into problems.

Any help will be appreciated.


Regards

[luvurride]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Nothing against you buddy. Sorry.

Anurag.

Hey buddy - Absolutely nothing against you! Those were my rants of not being able to come to terms with the way this country is moving!

I certainly would've taken this up seriously and went against the management like you said, had it been 8 years ago. But now, I have learnt it the hard way that I better mind my own business! I just wanted to make myself clear why I did not do it, that's all!

[silversteed]

Took the 2111BNGTRC service last night to Palakkad. The bus arrived at the Christ college bus stop at 9:40pm, about 20 min behind the scheduled time. But they dropped me in Palakkad at 5:10am, 25 min behind the promised time of arrival. The journey was smooth. Only grouse was the somewhat longish Hindi movie that was played at a rather unpleasant volume level. They switched it off after the dinner break at Shoolagiri though.