[ike]

My brother travelled from Chennai to thrissur & back on Kallada travels this weekend. The first leg of the journey was rather uneventful except for the fact that the bus was late by an hour and a half. This was their Chennai - Kayamkulam service. The return journey was on sunday night, I think on the EKM - Chennai bus. At around 2 in the morning, somewhere around salem, all passengers were asked to get off and board another Kallada Volvo. When asked, the driver said that the bus did not have a permit and it was going back to adoor with the passengers of the other bus that was coming from Chennai. When my brother asked the driver of the second bus what the issue was, he said the AC of the bus coming from chennai had conked off and hence they were returning to Chennai with Chennai bound passengers as there were no Volvo service stations in Adoor, but the AC was working fine till they reached Chennai. None from the crew helped people to move their stuff from one bus to another. There were women, children & old people among the passengers & were woken up in the middle of the night and asked to change buses for no apparent reason. Kallada have been getting some good reviews from regular travellers but incidents like these should be avoided if they want to retain their image as one of south India's finest.

[Manzone799]

Today morning, I saw a SVR Multi-axle Volvo bus in Bangalore. Although it looked like from SVR travels - on its sides, it was written "Apple i-Bus Travels". Is there seriously a travel agency like that ? And more funny was what was written behind the bus - "B11R - Automatic". I know that the B11R does come with an i-shift. But, i am pretty sure as a Volvo employee that i-shift doesn't mean its automatic! I couldn't click a photo as the bus just brisked past me in a flash. I will surely will try to get it tomorrow.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by bbhavan

I had to trave to PUNE ( from Mumbai)yesterday in a NITA Mercedes bus and vowed that will never try a bus journey again....

I traveled between Bangalore and Belgaum two weeks back. I wanted to try Neeta Volvo Multi axle sleeper. Booked for Rs.2500/-. Unfortunately there was a huge traffic jam at Hosur road and I was not able reach the bus on time. Actual departure was 12.30 PM at Kalasipalayam but eventually I cant reach the bus till 1.45PM. But when I was changing my boarding point from Kalasipalayam to Anand roa circle and finally to Yesh'pur, each time I was getting a message from Neeta about the change in boarding point. Anyway bad luck I was not able to reach the bus ( at Yeshwantpur). Driver gave me the manager number and when I spoke he arranged a seat in the next bus and asked me to wait near Hotel Sagar.
I was really surprised but still was under doubt whether will this be executed or not? I had my lunch and was waiting for the bus. Then after few minutes I got another message about new bus number and the helper number. Bus reached sharp at 3.30PM.
Dinner was at around 9.00 PM post Chitradurga at a decent hotel.
Reached Belgaum at midnight 1200 - On time. I had a very good journey and will try again.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Caught a couple of times, the speedometer needle hovering near the 110 - 120 kmph mark.

So they were going pedal to metal all along!

Originally Posted by a4anurag

OT: There is a gauge for turbocharger on the speedometer console. Upon acceleration it jumps off to the yellow zone and on crusing its in the centre. Looked awesome and wanted to have such a thing on my Ritz VDi.

It shows the boost pressure. You can get an OBD-II reader, and use a smart-phone with the Torque App installed, to see the boost (and much more), in your car

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by silversteed

It shows the boost pressure. You can get an OBD-II reader, and use a smart-phone with the Torque App installed, to see the boost (and much more), in your car

I am already using the OBD II reader since 5 months.. I don't need that gauge but the ones seen on modified cars.

Anurag.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by Manzone799

Today morning, I saw a SVR Multi-axle Volvo bus in Bangalore. Although it looked like from SVR travels - on its sides, it was written "Apple i-Bus Travels". Is there seriously a travel agency like that ? And more funny was what was written behind the bus - "B11R - Automatic". I know that the B11R does come with an i-shift. But, i am pretty sure as a Volvo employee that i-shift doesn't mean its automatic! I couldn't click a photo as the bus just brisked past me in a flash. I will surely will try to get it tomorrow.

I have seen this one on ORR and wondered the same. It looked like the usual stickering gone overboard case to me.

Best is the normal SVR buses. They have BOSE IS BOSS written on the rear glass. Some have BOSS IS BOSE. The guys who stuck them and others from the bus services seem to be real morons.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by Manzone799

Today morning, I saw a SVR Multi-axle Volvo bus in Bangalore. Although it looked like from SVR travels - on its sides, it was written "Apple i-Bus Travels". Is there seriously a travel agency like that ? And more funny was what was written behind the bus - "B11R - Automatic". I know that the B11R does come with an i-shift. But, i am pretty sure as a Volvo employee that i-shift doesn't mean its automatic! I couldn't click a photo as the bus just brisked past me in a flash. I will surely will try to get it tomorrow.

That was a fancy re-naming done by SVR Travels themselves. They had a very fancy website as well. All the buses which bore the "Apple i-Bus Travels" name had automatic (or automated-manual) transmission. Only their iShift Volvos and Leymatic/Automatic Transmission ALs got this name.

The website is gone now, and newer buses are not really getting the new name.

About the "B11R Automatic" stickers - the "Automatic" is aimed at the general public who really may not know the difference between an Automatic and an Automated-Manual.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by srishiva

They have BOSE IS BOSS written on the rear glass. Some have BOSS IS BOSE. The guys who stuck them and others from the bus services seem to be real morons.

Actually, it's not so bad. SVR Travels' owner's name is H.Subhash Chandra Bose. The taglines 'Bose is Boss' or 'Boss is Bose' make sense. Come on, we see so much of trash written on taxis and ricks, this one at least is not that way.

[TKMCE]

My brother travelled from Chennai to thrissur & back on Kallada travels this weekend. The first leg of the journey was rather uneventful except for the fact that the bus was late by an hour and a half. This was their Chennai - Kayamkulam service. The return journey was on sunday night, I think on the EKM - Chennai bus. At around 2 in the morning, somewhere around salem, all passengers were asked to get off and board another Kallada Volvo. When asked, the driver said that the bus did not have a permit and it was going back to adoor with the passengers of the other bus that was coming from Chennai. When my brother asked the driver of the second bus what the issue was, he said the AC of the bus coming from chennai had conked off and hence they were returning to Chennai with Chennai bound passengers as there were no Volvo service stations in Adoor, but the AC was working fine till they reached Chennai. None from the crew helped people to move their stuff from one bus to another. There were women, children & old people among the passengers & were woken up in the middle of the night and asked to change buses for no apparent reason. Kallada have been getting some good reviews from regular travellers but incidents like these should be avoided if they want to retain their image as one of south India's finest

Kallada's operations from Chennai to Kerala have never been known for their reliability to the best of my knowledge . The two best operators on this sector by a long mile are Parveen and SRM. Personally I am now taking many of the "Kallada is Wonderful" (both Suresh Kallada and G4) reviews on the internet with a pinch of salt as experiences of many people I know do not fully tally with the rosy pictures painted by some of the worshippers. I may be wrong but my experience with Kallada have never been confidence inspiring. Hindusthan Travels is now becoming a major player with 2 services on this route and I am planning to try them next time.

[venki.bala]

I travelled on Dhanunjaya travels AC sleeper from hyderabad to chennai. I travelled with my daughter and my wife for the first time in a sleeper bus. I had to board the bus at miyapur and the time mentioned was 7.30 pm. I was there near the athidi restaurant by 7.10 and waited . The bus came by 7.55. Very disappointed by the delay. The bus looked good from outside and inside the cabins were also good. We had the L6 & U6 berths. The bus started after 15 mins and then went through other pick up points and reached lb nagar by 10.10. The bus was very well maintained, no rattles. But after dinner break on the way to nagarjunasagar, the road worsens with lots of potholes and twisties. I could not sleep at all. Every time the driver hard breaked, I felt like thrown out of my berth. Actually felt scared. The bus reAched ongole by morning 4 15 and drivers changed hands. Reached Nellore by 6.15 and about 10passengers got down. Stopped at munna bhai dhaba at sulurpeta for 15 mins and dropped us at Koyambedu at 9.50 am. I was terribly disappointed with their punctuality. I would rather travel by Volvo than the sleeper again. By the way the road between Pidiguralla and Addankki had improved tremendously with pit holes are patched properly. But horrible between Macherla and Pidiguralla.

[balajird]

Originally Posted by venki.bala

I would rather travel by Volvo than the sleeper again.

Sir, exactly my feeling after travelling from Chennai to Hyderabad through Dhananjaya Sleeper service 2 months back, I owed that I will never ever travel through sleeper. Though they were on time but due to the bad roads I almost puked while usually I dont puke during any kind of travel. Thats the only time I traveled through sleeper service and started going either by train or volvo.

[venki.bala]

Originally Posted by balajird

Sir, exactly my feeling after travelling from Chennai to Hyderabad through Dhananjaya Sleeper service 2 months back, I owed that I will never ever travel through sleeper. Though they were on time but due to the bad roads I almost puked while usually I dont puke during any kind of travel. Thats the only time I traveled through sleeper service and started going either by train or volvo.

Yes. Return I booked second class in Kacheguda. Express. Felt better than the bus journey even though there was no AC. Also the sleeper timings are really bad. They start pretty late and reach chennai also very late in the morning. I donot know what timings they reach back in the return direction.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by venki.bala

I would rather travel by Volvo than the sleeper again.

After my three experiences with Sleepers (1 each in Corona, Volvo and Luxura), I am actually more inclined to try sleepers again. The Corona sleeper was the best sleeper ride I've experienced till date. The Volvo ride was disaster due to a failed AC and heat from the engine, while the Luxura ride was another good one - but I was actually down with fever when starting the journey, the sleeper allowed me have an amazing sleep.

May be the difference in layout causes all the change - the AP ones are 1+1 Berths, with the berths aligned perpendicular to the direction of movement, while the ones in KA are 2+1 sleepers with the berths aligned parallel to the direction of movement.

[venki.bala]

Originally Posted by binaiks

May be the difference in layout causes all the change - the AP ones are 1+1 Berths, with the berths aligned perpendicular to the direction of movement, while the ones in KA are 2+1 sleepers with the berths aligned parallel to the direction of movement.

Another difference could be the road and its conditions. The road from Hyderabad till we take the Main NH, is full of twists and turns and deep potholes.

[julupani]

Due to a lack of confirmed train tickets between Chennai and Bhubaneswar, I browsed around for bus-train options and discovered the recently started Hyderabad to Cuttack route by Kesineni travels. Overall, I took two Kesineni multi-axle semi-sleeper rides on consecutive nights to reach Bhubaneswar from Chennai via Vijayawada. First was the Kesineni VL122 from Chennai to Vijayawada and the second was the VL154 service from Hyderbad to Cuttack, which I boarded at Vijayawada.

Chennai-Vijayawada:
I had chosen to board from Koyambedu, where scheduled time was 10.45pm. The Private bus stand is a complete and utter mess. But at least bus was perfectly on time, and spent very little time at the bus stand.

Overall, bus was in pretty good shape despite have 8.7lakh on the odo. The interiors were well maintained, the blankets were clean and smelt fresh. The ride was comfortable, with restrained levels of honking. The only issue was when the bus encountered a diversion on the highway, of which there were many. The drivers were taking these on at pretty decent speeds causing significant amounts of body roll. The bus reached Vijayawada at 6.05 am only 5mins late.

Vijayawada to Bhubaneswar:
This was a recently started route, having functioned only for about a month. I reached the designated boarding point about 40mins prior to the departure time printed on my ticket, which was 10pm. But at the Kesineni office I discovered that the timings had been re-scheduled and delayed by an hour due to passenger feedback, and the bus was scheduled to arrive at 11pm now. I was a bit miffed at this, though not by much, as at least at Vijayawada their office had a big air-conditioned hall with sofas for about 30 people. Thus was complete contrast to Chennai where the boarding point was nothing more than a hole in the wall.

The bus arrived 15mins late, and after picking up the 6 passengers was on its way to Cuttack. Apparently the movie show had just finished 15-20mins ago, and I settled into my sleep without much problem. This bus had pretty much exactly the same interior as the previous bus, right down to the air freshener smell. Again the driver was pretty restrained with his honking, and was not making any sudden movements. I cant really say much about the ride as the roads between Vijayawada and Bhubaneswar are very good.

Woke up around 5.30 am to discover we were about 40 kms south of Srikakulam and it was raining. Apparently it had been raining on and off since Rajahmundry. The bus actually went into Srikakulam town rather than sticking to the bypass. 12 of the 48 passengers on board were dropped off in front of the Srikakulam APSRTC bus stand. Subsequently more people were dropped at Narsannapeta, Tekkali, Palasa and Icchapuram, all on the respective bypasses, leaving only 30 passengers crossing into Odisha.

After departing Srikakluam around 6.15 am, it crossed into Odisha at 8.40am after a stop at the Odisha check gate to pay the permit fees. After this it got into its regular breakfast point at the BP company owned outlet at Girisola. It has a pretty decent dhaba, and clean bathrooms. Here I finally got to check out the bus. Turned out this one too had 8Lkms on the odo, but there were no rattles or anything wrong with the bus. Though by now a second driver who had taken over at Srikakulam was fully in his groove and ,probably thinking everybody was awake, was making merry with the horn. And it was one loud horn which pretty much scared everyone else off the road.

At breakfast, I also discovered that we were running late by about 1.5hours, which according to the assistant was thanks to the incessant rain all through the night. The bus departed at 9am, and made good time to reach Bhubaneswar at 11.20am. This made for a journey time of 12hours, against the scheduled journey time of 10hrs30mins. But considering that the scheduled journey time maintains an avg speed of over 70kmph, I can understand how rain can cause a considerably delay. But even so a 12 hour journey between Vijayawada and Bhubaneswar still makes it as fast as the fastest train between the two places. The 1.5 hour delayed 18hour bus ride from Hyderbad to Bhubaneswar is still about an hour faster than the fastest train.

Overall very impressed by Kesineni Travels.