[deepclutch]

Originally Posted by vharihar

Let me describe the whole situation instead of piecemeal:
I live in Blore. I need to go to Koothatukulam in Nov 1st week to escort my parents (who are there in a hospital) back to Blore. Need to break journey at Tirupur (have relatives there). I am considering one of the following 2 options:
- Involving my car for part of the journey: Self-drive car alone from Blore to Tirupur, park car there. Go by bus (KeSRTC? TNSTC?) from Tirupur to Koothatukulam. Bring my parents from Koothatukulam to Tirupur, and take them back to Blore by car.
- Bus all the way: Go by KSRTC alone from Blore to Koothatukulam directly (or I may break at Tirupur via Avinashi as you suggested). Escort parents back to Tirupur as stated above, and take them back to Blore by bus (TNSTC I guess).

Basically my parents cant take a long journey, neither by car nor by bus. Hence breaking journey midway at Tirupur where I happen to have relatives.

Kuthattukulam is around 38kms from Kottayam. the buses plying through Kuthattukulam are usually towards Kottaayam or southwards through main central road(MC road).

There is direct KSRTC Fast Passenger Buses from KSRTC Ernakulam to Tirupur. Ernakulam is around 50kms from Kuthattukulam.

Changanassery-Velankanni KSRTC express bus passes through Tirpur. it passes through around 6PM from Kuthattukulam. however, I hear this bus changed route now taking Palakkad-Pollachi-Trichy route.

from Kuthattukulam, Bangalore bound KSRTC(Karnatka) Airavat Club class AC Volvo and Rajahamsa executive buses are available in the evenings think they drop you at Erode or Avinashi but needs confirmation. you can enquire at Sleigh travels, Kottaayam for booking:0481 2580115 / 9447251279

there were tourist buses passing through Muvattupuzha between 11PM-1AM to Coimbatore. I remember Assha,Asian,No.1 among them. I am not sure if these buses presently operating. you may inquire about these buses.

another option is Bangalore bound tourist buses passing through Kuthattukulam or Muvattupuzha. many of these buses accept ticket to Coimbatore bypass(near Madukkare) and Avanashi as well. the problem is, these buses passes through Coimbatore or Avinashi in odd timing(10-11PM). below are travel agents in Muvattupuzha, for enquiry:
http://www.hentektravels.com/schedules
http://kuruvithadamtravels.com/

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by vharihar

Fair enough, your suggestion makes sense. Thanks.

On the return, I'll be coming with my parents from Koothatukulam wanting to go to Tirupur. I am looking for KSRTC buses from Koothatukulam to Coimbatore, and I cant seem to find any. Now what could I be missing?

Let me describe the whole situation instead of piecemeal:
I live in Blore. I need to go to Koothatukulam in Nov 1st week to escort my parents (who are there in a hospital) back to Blore. Need to break journey at Tirupur (have relatives there). I am considering one of the following 2 options:
- Involving my car for part of the journey: Self-drive car alone from Blore to Tirupur, park car there. Go by bus (KeSRTC? TNSTC?) from Tirupur to Koothatukulam. Bring my parents from Koothatukulam to Tirupur, and take them back to Blore by car.
- Bus all the way: Go by KSRTC alone from Blore to Koothatukulam directly (or I may break at Tirupur via Avinashi as you suggested). Escort parents back to Tirupur as stated above, and take them back to Blore by bus (TNSTC I guess).

Basically my parents cant take a long journey, neither by car nor by bus. Hence breaking journey midway at Tirupur where I happen to have relatives.

My suggestion would be:

Take a morning bus from Koothattululam to Ernakulam. There are both private and Ksrtc limited stops and the frequency is decent. Take a bus via Anchelpetty-Piravom-Nadakkavu and the road is in good shape.

If KSRTC, get down at Panampilly nagar and travel by 9.10am Bangalore Intercity train. Tickets and mostly available on week days.

This will reach Tiruppur by around 1.30pm.

[TKMCE]

What Cool Clouds say is the best option. I know this is a bus travel forum, but your intinerary is a classic case where trains score over buses.

The advantage of the train is that you can use the same train to travel Tiruppur Bangalore after your break. This is train is scheduled to reach Cantonment by around 1920 (Tiruppur at 1330) and this train takes the Hosur route from Salem, so there are stops at Hosur and Carmelaram which I believe is somewhere in Sarjapur road. Train temrinates in Bangalore City.

AC Chair car should be available or has a good chance of getting confirmed if you book now or you can book Second Class reserved sitting accomodation which is readily available,

Train no is 12678 which was formerly the Bangalore Coimbatore Intercity express which got extended to Ernakulam some years back.

I think there are Volvos from Shama and Kallada G4 as well as an Airavath which goes from Bangalore to Koothatukulam.

[mazda4life]

Did a quick round trip from Bangalore to Mysore over the last weekend, boarded the bus to Mysore from Satellite bus stand , used the long term 2 wheeler parking in the basement , it was a breeze. Took a regular bus and not the airavat as I have a problem sitting in the Volvo because of the short leg space. Bus was driven pretty rashly and there was a verbal match between the conductor and driver with the choicest of words being volleyed.

Return was again by the ordinary bus and this time the driver was just amazing, it was a Tirupathi bound bus and in pristine condition. Perfect gauging of spaces and nothing rash, took around 3:30 hours from Mysore to Satellite bus stand. Just an FYI, the ticket is Rs 115 between Bangalore and Mysore.

Still not driving my car as i am getting used to the traffic, but will surely take the Kanakapura route when I use my steed.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by mazda4life

Did a quick round trip from Bangalore to Mysore over the last weekend, boarded the bus to Mysore from Satellite bus stand , used the long term 2 wheeler parking in the basement , it was a breeze. Took a regular bus and not the airavat as I have a problem sitting in the Volvo because of the short leg space. Bus was driven pretty rashly and there was a verbal match between the conductor and driver with the choicest of words being volleyed.

Return was again by the ordinary bus and this time the driver was just amazing, it was a Tirupathi bound bus and in pristine condition. Perfect gauging of spaces and nothing rash, took around 3:30 hours from Mysore to Satellite bus stand. Just an FYI, the ticket is Rs 115 between Bangalore and Mysore.

Still not driving my car as i am getting used to the traffic, but will surely take the Kanakapura route when I use my steed.

If you are travelling by ordinary, try KeSRTC. Most of them are non stop and the running time is less.

[mazda4life]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

If you are travelling by ordinary, try KeSRTC. Most of them are non stop and the running time is less.

Will try, my wife being in Mysore currently there will be multiple oppurtunities in the offing, one put down for me is that the KeSRTC buses look slightly dated from outside atleast.

[TheARUN]

Very sad to report

The Jabbar intercity Volvo multi-axle between Bangalore and Hyderabad caught fire. More than 30 are presumed dead, the Driver and cleaner escaped the blaze, the bus has been reduced to mangled metal, this happened about 100 kilometres from Hyderabad

Was very surprised to see the Volvo blazing on TV, might have been carrying fire crackers in its belly for all we know

[S5157]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

Very sad to report

The Jabbar intercity Volvo multi-axle between Bangalore and Hyderabad caught fire. More than 30 are presumed dead, the Driver and cleaner escaped the blaze, the bus has been reduced to mangled metal, this happened about 100 kilometres from Hyderabad

Was very surprised to see the Volvo blazing on TV, might have been carrying fire crackers in its belly for all we know

Very sad and shocking news.TOI says bus hit an oil tanker.

[coolclouds]

Sad news! Poor souls RIP.

IMO Jabbar is not a road ripper but known for carrying lot of goods.

Since driver and cleaner could escape, the impact of accident may not be that heavy but the sealed windows and sleeping passengers increased the toll.

[mazda4life]

Very sad news , saw the visuals in some of the local channels and it is pretty disturbing as there are no editing standards of images being adhered to. Conflicting versions of the cause and as per reports driver , cleaner are in police custody .

[aroonanand]

May the souls RIP

I had created a separate thread earlier this year when an SRS Volvo in which I was travelling met with an accident and getting out of the bus was a real bottleneck with doors getting jammed. (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/commer...-disaster.html)

This incident seems to be a case of the bus hitting a culvert and the fuel tank exploding leaving the passengers with very little time to get out. An emergency exit like those on KaSRTC buses would have surely helped in more people getting out quicker rather than spending time on breaking the windows with hammers in a situation of panic. (As much as several on this forum claimed it was easy to come out by breaking the emergency exit or using the exit on the roof of the bus !)

Will the authorities ever wake up and take these greedy bus operators to task? They should cancel permits till emergency exits which are easily accessible are installed on all buses. However, knowing the scene in India, this will be forgotten in a day or two and everything will be back to square one.

[denver85]

Very sad and shocking one. May the poor souls RIP.
Heard from a report that the driver told the front tire got busted due to which bus lost control and hit the culvert. The report is here:
http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/new...123?h_also_see
I never heard of any incident where the front tire of a Volvo busting.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

...might have been carrying fire crackers in its belly for all we know

Originally Posted by coolclouds

IMO Jabbar is not a road ripper but known for carrying lot of goods.

Reading these statements together, I'm inclined to think that there might've been some crackers also in the luggage, causing a sudden fire.

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Since driver and cleaner could escape, the impact of accident may not be that heavy but the sealed windows and sleeping passengers increased the toll.

Originally Posted by aroonanand

An emergency exit like those on KaSRTC buses would have surely helped in more people getting out quicker...

If it were a sudden explosive fire, then I am not sure even an emergency exit would help, because, by the time the passengers realized what's happening and reacted, the fire would've already engulfed them and caused fatal burns. The window curtains and the copious amount of easily flammable material - clothes and bags would've made things even worse.

Originally Posted by aroonanand

Will the authorities ever wake up and take these greedy bus operators to task? They should cancel permits till emergency exits which are easily accessible are installed on all buses. However, knowing the scene in India, this will be forgotten in a day or two and everything will be back to square one.

Similar thoughts. I would add playing a small video clip about the location of emergency exits and safety hammers, and fire extinguishers inside the bus, say about 2 hours after the bus pulls out of the originating bus stand, also to be made mandatory.

Does the AIS specify the materials (fire retardant) to be used for the interiors? If they do, this has to be enforced strictly. Else, this must also be a clause to be fulfilled for the bus to get a registration.

Originally Posted by denver85

Heard from a report that the driver told the front tire got busted due to which bus lost control and hit the culvert...
I never heard of any incident where the front tire of a Volvo busting.

The front tyre might've lost pressure for some reason and the high speed would've caused it to burst. It could also be the driver trying to wash his hands off the incident by blaming the vehicle.

[TKMCE]

Also is there any regulation on what is being carried in these luggage compartments??? Is there anyone to monitor and regulate the carriage of improperly packed and possibly dangerous goods in the luggage compartments??? Once KPN made me carry 3 heavy pieces of baggage inside the passenger cabin despite my willingness to pay luggage charges (apparently as they had a full complement of luggage). That day luckily the bus was relatively empty and I moved towards the back so that the luggage would not incovenience others. They were not small enough to fit in the overhead racks, so they had to be placed in the passageway. In cases where there is limited time to get out, bulky luggage in passageways is another danger.

[aroonanand]

Originally Posted by TKMCE

Also is there any regulation on what is being carried in these luggage compartments??? Once KPN made me carry 3 heavy pieces of baggage inside the passenger cabin despite my willingness to pay luggage charges (apparently as they had a full complement of luggage). In cases where there is limited time to get out, bulky luggage in passageways is another danger.

Regulation? In India??? I wish.. And even if there was one, there would be zero adherence. Not just KPN, all companies load all sorts of stuff inside the belly of their vehicles. I have seen 2 wheelers getting loaded inside SRS and Sharma coaches, electronics (PC monitors) and what not.

Absolutely, a lot of luggage in the gangway would add to the chaos in an emergency evacuation.

Originally Posted by silversteed

If it were a sudden explosive fire, then I am not sure even an emergency exit would help, because, by the time the passengers realized what's happening and reacted, the fire would've already engulfed them and caused fatal burns. The window curtains and the copious amount of easily flammable material - clothes and bags would've made things even worse.

Similar thoughts. I would add playing a small video clip about the location of emergency exits and safety hammers, and fire extinguishers inside the bus, say about 2 hours after the bus pulls out of the originating bus stand, also to be made mandatory.

Don't agree on your first statement. Whilst the fire could engulf the bus very fast, if there is a ready emergency exit, it will help in higher no. of people getting out. In this instance, a few passengers did manage to escape by breaking the windows, meaning they had a few minutes before the bus was fully engulfed. With an emergency exit that is easily accessible (illuminated maybe, like the sign on planes or having an exit at a standard place across buses so that everyone is aware of where the exit is), a higher number would have managed to come out is my view.

Agreed, a video clip will help but again, with the private bus industry being so unorganized and the crew generally illiterate and crude, who is going to ensure that the video is played? Most of them are keen on playing a loud movie / music at ear-shattering volumes than anything else. I remember such videos being played on the Singapore - KL luxury coaches at the commencement of the journey without fail. Another issue in India, in most of the buses, the hammer slot would be empty, rendering the emergency window partially useless.