[Thumping Soul]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Check VRL. They have three overnight services and should be good.

Originally Posted by dass

www.Redbus.in should be able to provide you with multiple options, depending upon your timings and place of boarding.

Thanks folks.

I did check Redbus and had the same conclusion - VRL best in terms of ratings and Neeta in terms of no. of services. However, my objective was to understand the service quality & timeliness, preferably from a 1st hand user perspective.

Regards
Saurav

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by binaiks

The driver meant business as he hit the road - this bus too was speed locked at 80kmph. The driver kept that speed and ensured he did not lose momentum by hard brakes.

Meaning they have speed governors now? Is the speed set by Volvo or by KeSRTC?

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Meaning they have speed governors now? Is the speed set by Volvo or by KeSRTC?

Legally speed limits for buses in Kerala is 65kmph. But based on an exemption, KeSRTC has locked its Volvos at 80kmph. Volvo sets the lock at 100kmph before delivery.

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Volvo sets the lock at 100kmph before delivery.

Is this a recent development? I have heard of and even seen Volvos at 120- 140 ??

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Is this a recent development? I have heard of and even seen Volvos at 120- 140 ??

A lot of operators get it unlocked when they go for service. But after the recent accidents, Volvo has asked all its service centres not to reset it to any speed above 100kmph. And "speed certificate" is now mandated by all the south indian states for Fitness/Registration of Volvo buses. The speed certificate certifies what speed the ECU is set to.

[speedsatya]

On a recent drive from Mangalore , this B9R was consistently doing 100kph on the GPS. I was under the assumption that these buses are now limited to 80 kph.


Sent from my iPad using Team-BHP

[TKMCE]

I have used both VRL and Neeta out of Mumbai but not to Goa. Travel on VRL was on Mumbai Bangalore and the experience was fantastic. Well maintained bus, and more or less on time .That said they (VRL) are very strong on routes to/from Karnataka and another T-BHP member here did not exactly have a great journey when he travelled from Hyderabad to Mumbai. Indeed when I had to make the choice for the Bangalore journey I had asked for advice in this very same thread and the advice I received was to go for VRL which turned out to be a right decision. The places where the stopped for food were also clean places with good wash rooms.

Neeta was on Mumbai Pune (quite a few times) and the service was hit and miss. It is all right for a 3-4 hour ride on the Pune route as they have the largest frequency (from the Borivali side) and you can put up with indifferent service for such a short duration. They are not very punctual especially if the bus is half empty where they will wait ages to pick up extra passengers and bus condtions have varied from well maintained to hopeless.

The advantage with VRL is that there will not be additional short distance passengers which the crew will pick up enroute to make extra money. The monitorng of the buses and crew are very strict. The same is not with Neeta where long waits at Chembur/Wakad (on the Pune route) used to be common if the bus was not full. Also the crew generally pick up short distance passengers for extra money and this can be a security issue.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Is this a recent development? I have heard of and even seen Volvos at 120- 140 ??

Originally Posted by binaiks

A lot of operators get it unlocked when they go for service. But after the recent accidents, Volvo has asked all its service centres not to reset it to any speed above 100kmph. And "speed certificate" is now mandated by all the south indian states for Fitness/Registration of Volvo buses. The speed certificate certifies what speed the ECU is set to.

Most manufacturers locks the speed of vehicle during delivery (ECu controlled ones). Its only the wish of the operator to release it. Even now Volvo unlocks the speed if the operator asks in writing, like earlier. Also producing speed lock certificates were also mandated earlier. I have seen RTO's drive the vehicle physically to esnure that the speed is locked.
Speed lcok as such is a big joke especially in KL, where ever speed limiting devices are available for rent, which will be removed post FC.

[TKMCE]

Looks like Kerala SRTC has started running the JNURM volvos on longer routes again. Saw buses running on the Trivandrum Ernakulam route on two consecutive days at Trivandrum, The service went full from Trivandrum.


Also had some interesting SETC experiences. Saw a Trivandrum Chennai bus running the 1730 service belonging to Trivandrum depot (SETC has a depot in Trivandrum for many years). The bus looked dilapidated to say the least although this was an ULTRA DELUXE VIDEO COACH.

The next day I was waiting for a bus at Tenkasi to go to Kottarakkara in Kerala. Suddenly another SETC Ultra deluxe bus pulled in. The board said "777 UD" Velankanni Kollam service but the bus seemed to be a starting service from Tenkasi and the bus belonged to the Tenkasi depot.


Well maintained 45 seater with 2 X 2 push backseats. However the TV had been removed. This service brought back memories of the SETC (or rather the old TTC) which I used to love and which had set standards for long distance bus transport in the 1970s and 1980s. Courteous crew and good driving. However the driving was very leisurely,may be because of the speed lock which I think it set to 60km/h (please correct if required).

[ontheroad]

Originally Posted by TKMCE

Looks like Kerala SRTC has started running the JNURM volvos on longer routes again. Saw buses running on the Trivandrum Ernakulam route on two consecutive days at Trivandrum, The service went full from Trivandrum

There was a court order against running JNnurm funded buses as inter city buses. The case was taken up by an advocate from EKM, challenging KSRTC against running Jnnrum ekm buses in inter city routes. He won the case and KSRTC stopped running Jnnurm EKM depot buses. The buses you have seen belong to TVM depot.

[TKMCE]

Just thought would do some exploring of Idukki district using Kerala SRTC buses. Route decided was Aluva to Katttappana. There is a 0615 Town to Town service from Aluva to Thodupuzha which reached Thodupuzha at 0730 with stops only at Perumbavoor, Moovatupuzha and Vazhakkulam. Got down at the KSRTC bus stand waited for some time only to realise that the Kattapana buses left from the Private stand. Caught the 0815 AM ordinary service to Kattapana which routed via Moolamattom, Kulamavu, Idukki Dam and Cheruthoni, Fantastic journey with some solid ghat sections. The bus more or less emptied out at Idukki. This trip was again done without any breaks and reached Kattapana by 1115.


Return wanted to try a different route and found there is another route to Moovattupuzha from Kattappana which goes via Karimpan, Murickasery, Chelachuvadu, Kanjikuzhi, Vannapuram and Pothanicad. Narrow roads and some very steep descents but interesting none the less although the Moolamattom, Cheruthoni route is definitely more scenic,. Took nearly 4 hours to reach Mooovatupuzha with just one 10 minute break at Chelachuvadu. The bus was continuing to Kaloor voa Kakkanad. From Moovatupuzha took an Aluva ordinary back via Perumbavoor.



To sum up it was a great day trip to unwind away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The first of the monsoon showers were coming down as I reached Moovatupuzha on the way back.

[dhandapanik]

Originally Posted by TKMCE

The next day I was waiting for a bus at Tenkasi to go to Kottarakkara in Kerala. Suddenly another SETC Ultra deluxe bus pulled in. The board said "777 UD" Velankanni Kollam service but the bus seemed to be a starting service from Tenkasi and the bus belonged to the Tenkasi depot.

This is operated by Sencottah depot. SETC didnt have a depot in Tenkasi.

[TKMCE]

My apologies.

It is indeed Sencottah depot.

Also saw the Ernakulam Velankanni bus of SETC today. Another well maintained bus, didnt notice which depot. Velankkani seems to be getting mostly new buses.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by TKMCE

Also saw the Ernakulam Velankanni bus of SETC today. Another well maintained bus, didnt notice which depot. Velankkani seems to be getting mostly new buses.

That is operated by Nagapattinam depot. One of the buses is good, while its pair is not is a great shape. But generally, this service gets fairly good crowds.

[ike]

Hi guys. I'm based in Mumbai & need to visit Jaipur. I managed to get train ticket for the onward journey but all trains are full for the return leg. A redbus search said there are no direct buses between Jaipur & Mumbai so I guess the best option is to travel to Udaipur & take a bus from there. The problem here is that most buses reach Udaipur early morning & Mumbai bound buses depart only in the evening. Any Advise will be appreciated.