[bejoy]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

Bookings are open for Kerala SRTCs new multi axle service between Bangalore and Trivandrum. First service is on May 1st. Disappointed with the fares, though. Rs. 1361 (excluding reservation charges) end to end, is almost on par with private operators who charge Rs. 1400. Karnataka SRTC is way cheaper, at 1140.

I too felt the same about the pricing. And there is no way to book a seat from Ekm on a Tvm-Bangalore bus online. Is it so?

Also any idea if the Ekm-Blr bus will start the operation soon?

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by bejoy

I too felt the same about the pricing. And there is no way to book a seat from Ekm on a Tvm-Bangalore bus online. Is it so?

Also any idea if the Ekm-Blr bus will start the operation soon?

There is a way. One needs to select Trivandrum-Bangalore, and opt for Ernakulam as the boarding point. There are proposals to run EKM-Bangalore, but nothing is concrete as of now.

[treadmark]

Travelled in Hebron on April 30th from Chennai to Thrissur. My boarding point was from Perungalathur with a scheduled time of 21: 25 but then bus turned up at 23 : 00 hrs. Nothing to complain here because of the long weekend and heavy traffic all buses were running late by two hours. The bus was a Volvo multi axle and my seat was second row window on left but to my surprise someone had already occupied the seat. When I reported this to the driver he requested me to sit in first row window to the left since that passenger was traveling along with his friend and need to sit with him. I obliged since I wasn't particular about my seat but not everyone will be alike and this may be sour point against the operator. The next stop was at SRM where there were few students and one among them had a Royal Enfield to be transported along with. Though the loading was quick but then 8 students in one billing didn't turned up for a bus which was already running late by two hours. The driver couldn't reach the number used for booking hence he informed the same to his office and left.
The bus was bound to Erenakulam relatively new with KL01 registration and all was perfectly in place like any other new Volvo.
There was only one driver and the cleaner boy speaking Tamilyalam occupied the seat next to me once the bus left Chengalpet toll plaza. The worst part was he was snoring all along and while I woke up at six the bus was nearing Coimbatore and a new driver had taken the wheel (he should have got in some where mid way) and the driver who was at wheels from Chennai was sleeping next to me again snoring the same way the cleaner guy did it but then have to live with these things on a public vehicle.
The bus went inside Coimbatore
city instead of taking L&T bypass, we lost another 40 minutes because of this.
Since the bus was running late the driver stopped at a hotel near Kanjikode (the name was Malabar if I remember correctly) for a small break and dropped me at Thrissur by 9:00.
Unlike Kallada and particularly SRM both the driver were not rash and didn't tried to make up the lost timing .

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by binaiks

There is a way. One needs to select Trivandrum-Bangalore, and opt for Ernakulam as the boarding point.

I booked a ticket in the new Volvo to travel to Palakkad. Had to select Thrissur as the destination. It's rather unfair that they do not have a fare stage nor boarding point in Palakkad, despite entering the depot.

As for those travelling from a place other than the origin of the service, the full end to end fare has to be paid, which is again unfair - the corporation can fill those empty seats until the reserved passenger's boarding point, and is set to gain even more.

It's high time KSRTC pulls up their socks and improve their reservation system. Just wishful thinking

EDIT:
Do they provide any additional amenities for the Rs.200 that's charged extra compared to the KaSRTC fare for Tvm-Bangalore? IIRC, the pax weren't provided water bottles in the Garuda services. When the service was introduced in the early 2000s, the pax were provided a water bottle, a blanket, a complementary news paper (Indian Express, IIRC, sponsored by somebody) and free calls from the on-board cell phone (which was a luxury in those days). Gone are those days, and the service is just a namesake luxury service now

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by silversteed

I booked a ticket in the new Volvo to travel to Palakkad. Had to select Thrissur as the destination. It's rather unfair that they do not have a fare stage nor boarding point in Palakkad, despite entering the depot.

There is a fare stage in Palakkad, but they don't permit reservations. The reason is simple that the bus might have to go empty if there are a lot of BGLR-PLKD reservations. That is a strategy followed by most operators - KaSRTC, for example, does not give reservations to Palakkad for their Ernakulam/Kottayam buses. If you are getting into the bus without a reservation, you would be able to pay only BGLR-Palakkad fare, which is Rs. 921.

Originally Posted by silversteed

As for those travelling from a place other than the origin of the service, the full end to end fare has to be paid, which is again unfair - the corporation can fill those empty seats until the reserved passenger's boarding point, and is set to gain even more.

That system is due to the inability of the system of handle multiple bookings on a single seat. But if my sources are to be believed, people will be able to pay the actual fare, from the point where the board, unlike the current system of paying from the origin.

Originally Posted by silversteed

Do they provide any additional amenities for the Rs.200 that's charged extra compared to the KaSRTC fare for Tvm-Bangalore? IIRC, the pax weren't provided water bottles in the Garuda services. When the service was introduced in the early 2000s, the pax were provided a water bottle, a blanket, a complementary news paper (Indian Express, IIRC, sponsored by somebody) and free calls from the on-board cell phone (which was a luxury in those days). Gone are those days, and the service is just a namesake luxury service now

As of now, there is no Blanket or Water Bottles. Blankets are being procured (they've just begun the process). The buses have a limited supply of shawls which would be given out on first-come-first served basis until the new lot of blankets reach KeSRTC. There are no plans for water bottles, I am told.

[ramzsys]

Originally Posted by BulZire

I happened to board the KPN multi axle volvo from Erode to Bangalore 2 days back.

Coimbatore based operators, ABT X and Hindusthan travels, both enter Erode. I would suggest you take either of them.

ABT gives both shawl & 1/2 litre water bottle.

[joshguy]

Hi all,
I had to travel from trichy to chennai on 20th of April ,I reached trichy from dindukal at about 330pm and called just dial for kpn number ,called kpn and phone was picked up by a lady and I asked her if there a bus to chennai now and she said 3.30 and abruptly cut the call.
Anyways since it didn't have a choice walked to kpn and booked the ticket for a shocking 680 RS ...
Bus came from Madurai at 4pm and I got the last window seat,got in and the sun was at its peak so I thought once the bus moves ac effect would set in.

Travelled about 25 km and it was hot like a pressure cooker,the person next to me went and told the driver but no action.

After a point I took th ticket and called upa number which was given in the ticket as complaints .no one picked up ,so I smsed them.thrn got the head office Salem number and called ther to complaint ,some one took the bus number and details and also spoke to driver .the whole trip was annoying as there is no window in Volvo and only the last few seats had the ac problem.the driver didn't agree that bus had ac problem .

I am so pissed of with this as my hard earned money was paid for the ticket and there was no action or partial refund on the ticket.what kind of world are we in .?

What could I do

I felt there was no difference between government and private operators,that too a market leader

[infotech58]

Got a chance to travel from Jalandhar to Delhi airport in Indo Canadian business class bus.
- bus was a modified (by DC) Mercedes multi axle bus and had 19 seats.
- cost for Jalandhar to Delhi Airport T3 is 2500 bucks (28xx bucks if booked online).
- ticket price includes water bottles, snacks, juice, etc.
- each seat has its own entertainment system (which was nothing but a touch screen 20" (?) PC).
- seats recline enough for a comfortable sleep.
- overhead storage bins were useless. From outside they look big enough for a cabin luggage sized bag but you can only fit a small duffle bag inside.
- bus departed sharp at time (8pm) and reached on time (4am). travel time included two breaks (one at rajkot for 30 mins and another one near delhi for five mins).

[condor]

Back today after a BLR-BOM round trip in 41 hours, by KSRTC's Club-class service. It was comfortable, with well driven buses. While returning, got friendly with the crew and came to know that:

1. Crew is completely responsible for the bus from the time it gets out of the depot & till it is back.
2. Drivers are responsible for any accidents they cause. (If fault of other party, then they will go as per FIR).
3. Conductor is responsible for all passengers. Cant afford to miss anyone, esp at pick-up. Conductor will be accountable for any additional passengers (like if taken without proper ticket).
4. Any damages due to 1 / 2 above will be deducted from respective crew member's salary.
5. They are given fixed allowance for fuel. 520 liters for BOM-BLR. Upto 540, if with luggage. Beyond 540 - then either they have a good explanation, or they get a certain amount deducted.
6. They also get incentives for collections for cargo. (not sure how it works)
7. Crew is well paid fairly well, esp when we include incentives..
8. The buses are speed-limited ! (We were once overtaken by a regular bus ! Hence please expect an hour or so extra time for long trips.
9. Blankets washed regularly, most likely after each trip.
10. The conductor was also trained to drive Volvo's !
11. The crew had their own collection of movies on discs. So if you have a new movie, you could ask them to play it.
12. Our crew said they preferred to change their routes regularly, so they get a change & the work doesnt get monotonous. They could stick to a particular route, too


Felt good to hear about the crew, and their responsible approach. . Apparently one of the drivers had educated his kids to be a CA & another as a Lawyer.

Originally Posted by binaiks

The first two seats are reserved for the crew. Some of them convert the seats into berths by putting in cartons/wood planks in the space between.

Correct. The first two seats are used by the crew. The seats are just reclined a little, something like if a passenger was sitting there.

Just wish they were not so slow .. else, it was a comfortable journey. Well behaved crew, with a clean bus.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by condor

6. They also get incentives for collections for cargo. (not sure how it works)

They get a fixed % commission on the fare collected for luggage.

Originally Posted by condor

9. Blankets washed regularly, most likely after each trip.

Yes. They have an inhouse blanket washing unit at the depot. Each bus get blankets equal a little over double the number of seats in the bus - Say for a 49 seater bus, they get some 110 blankets. (More in case of buses that get a lot of sectional passengers). This ensures that no blanket is re-used during a journey.

Originally Posted by condor

10. The conductor was also trained to drive Volvo's !

Actually, its the other way round. Drivers are trained to double up as Conductors.

[coolclouds]

Aeon connect started Cochin - Hyderabad service. Saw the bus going towards Hyderabad today.

[odyssey045]

Travelled through SRS travels from BLR to BOM . A bus picked me up till majestic which was a good thing. The bus was full and it started at 7.45, fifteen minutes late. On the way, it had several stops (not sure if they were regular pick up points or they wanted to fill the seats up) till nelamangala. There was also an accident near srirampura metro station which caused a delay.

They stopped at some sort of organic restaurant at 10:30 pm. I thought they were slightly overpriced but the taste was good for an highway restaurant.

When the bus was about to leave the restaurant, i saw that the second driver of the bus get into the side luggage boot of the bus!! Not sure if SRS reserves a seat in the bus for the driver or the cabin crew sold it to make some extra money.

After this stop, they did not stop anywhere unless the driver had to answer the nature's call. At around 4 am, i saw the first driver get down get his suitcase and go away somewhere in the middle of the highway. Not sure what the arrangement was. Maybe he was to catch the oncoming bus back to Bangalore.

The next stop was outside Pune around 6:30 AM. Too early for breakfast (not that the restaurant had anything worth to eat). I was expecting the bus to make another stop for actual breakfast, but they did not have any other stop.

Reached Pune at around 8 am and again the pickup/drop scene of passengers started. Finally at around 10 am they hit the expressway and reached Panvel at around 11 am. From there i finally got to Bandra at little past 12 which was about around the expected time.

The travel was comfortable except for the fact that the number of stops was just two and since the intervals between stops was so long, i was finding it quite painful to sit and starting to feel cramped around early morning. Also, i would have preferred to have another short stop for breakfast at a decent joint.

Thankfully i bagged a tatkal ticket for the return journey. Though the journey time and the ticket price were both 50% more, i felt much more comfortable and relaxed ..

[coolclouds]

As per some news, KeSRTC Kochi is getting two Volvos and planning to schedule for ~6pm departure from Kochi. Ideally, a Volvo should leave between 8-9 pm for better occupancy.

[silversteed]

Onward: KSRTC 2100hrs BGL-PLKD Super Deluxe, on Friday, 2nd May.
Boarding point was E-city bus stop, opposite to the Infy campus. Scheduled departure was 2145hrs, but the bus arrived at 2220hrs, 35min late. The bus was RSC696, a Leyland Viking. This one was better than RSC697, the pairing bus for this service. Less rattles, and the bling-bling was also less (the other bus was a disco on wheels, with all the flickering LED marker lights and multi-colour lights fitted above the front grill and below the rear glass).

The crew were new to this service. My seat was beside the conductor's seat. What surprised me was, the conductor simply shooed away a prospective passenger at Hosur, even though the jump-seat in the driver cabin was free. Ideally, the conductor should be sitting there, and not merrily snoring away to glory. The regulars on this route would never do that. And this gentleman, who appeared to be from a ruling front union, was going gaga over the MLA's effort to have a new bus allotted to the depot. My mistake - to ask him how he felt about the new bus. What was worse, is this guy ensured everyone woke up each time the driver or conductor stopped for a tea/bio break, by turning on the saloon lights and announcing the break.

The driver had the irritating habbit of turning on the LHS indicators BEFORE an overtaking manoeuvre, and leaving them on for long after completing it too. The beeper sound was very very loud as well. An even worse habbit was that the bus was snaking its way all along, as the driver was constantly turning the steering wheel either way - giving it the feeling of a boat swaying. Wonder how the passengers on the rear portion would've felt.

I got down at Palakkad at 0540hrs, 30 min before the scheduled time of arrival. The bus never exceeded 80kmph (guess it's speed locked). Since I had to come to the depot later during the day, I visited the DTO's office and had a quiet word with him regarding the conductor and driver's behaviour.

Return trip was in a KaSRTC ACC that leaves Palakkad at 2135hrs. The bus left on the dot, and I got down at Silk Board at 0445hrs. No complaints. One of the seats in the rear had water leaking from the ceiling, and the conductor attended to it immediately - he stuffed one of the used blankets. This occured when it rained heavily sometime after the bus crossed Kanjikode.

What is surprising is that the Palakkad-Bangalore Super Deluxe and the Tiruvalla-Bangalore Super Deluxe buses arrived at Silk Board as I was getting down in the morning. The former had left PLKD depot 10 min late, and the Tvla bus usually leaves PLKD at 2045hrs or so.

[coolclouds]

(Karnataka RTO seized KeSRTC multi axle Volvos for not having emergency exits)

Any details about this news? I think many private buses registeres in KA don't have emergency exits. Then why KL registered KeSRTC?

Edit: Some more info from ksrtcblog.com/TOI

50 buses seized for flouting safety norms

BANGALORE: People travelling in private buses from the city faced a harrowing time as RTO officials launched a crackdown on Volvo buses that had failed to install emergency exits. About 50 buses were seized across the state, including 25 in Bangalore city alone.The Karnataka government had issued an ultimatum to the transport operators to fix the emergency exits on their Volvo carriers. The ultimatum followed several incidents involving Volvo buses catching fire leading to casualties. Besides the emergency exits, several other safety measures too had been prescribed.Two back-to-back accidents last year involving Volvo buses that claimed 52 lives led the government to tighten the screws on private transporters.On Thursday, authorities seized over 50 Volvo buses belonging to various private bus operators for non-compliance of safety norms. Transport authorities had announced that operators running buses without emergency exits will not be allowed by ply from May 1.Suresh Sharma of Sharma Transport said they suspended services of a dozen buses after RTO officials conducted checks in Kalasipalayam late on Thursday night and seized several buses. The services of over 150 buses were suspended leading to chaos in Kalasipalayam and Majestic areas from where majority of private buses operate, sources added.The drive will continue for a week and private bus services may be badly affected for the same reason, transport officials said.However, KSRTC buses were unchecked as they have managed to comply with safety norms.

Source: Times of India