[binaiks]

Originally Posted by venki.bala

Just curious to know what happened to Dhanunjaya Travels that used to operate buses from Hyderabad to various south india cities? I am not seeing these buses for quite some time now and their website is shut and takes it abhibus instead. it used to be my favourite bus since 2006 and if i remember correctly they were the first ones who introduced B9R's in chennai - Hyd sector.

They shut shop. The buses were taken up by other operator. Some one related to the old Dhanunjaya Travels have now started off an "outfit" called "New Dhanunjaya Travels" now. They don't seem to have a website though.

[autotranny]

Originally Posted by binaiks

They shut shop. The buses were taken up by other operator. Some one related to the old Dhanunjaya Travels have now started off an "outfit" called "New Dhanunjaya Travels" now. They don't seem to have a website though.

Their parking yard used to be very close to my house. Ever since the RTA related issues started in AP, their numbers reduced drastically and I think now there are no more buses. Most of their Volvos and Sleeper buses have been sold to other operators.

[manduvindupondu]

Can someone please suggest good transit hotel accommdation for family near Chennai Airport. I need it between 23:00 of 26 Sept to 05:00 of 27 Sept

[gold class]

New 4 AC Sleepers of Kerala Lines Getting Final Touches !!! This will operate in Bangalore-Pala-Adoor and Bangalore-Ernakulam-Kottayam route,Starting 30th Sep.

[DWind]

Is it based on AL Viking Chassis? the GC looks low for a Viking or is the camera making the image look compressed?

[urzdeepu]

Good to see AL Viking EDC coming in strong numbers now a days. Waiting for Kerala lines.

[treadmark]

Originally Posted by manduvindupondu

Can someone please suggest good transit hotel accommdation for family near Chennai Airport. I need it between 23:00 of 26 Sept to 05:00 of 27 Sept

There are two hotels close to airport, Radisson Blu and Trident between airport and Guindy to be precise just before Officers Training Academy. Thought I haven't stayed there I've been to Radisson Blu couple of times for official meetings 4~5 years back.
Cheers!

[andydude]

Originally Posted by manduvindupondu

Can someone please suggest good transit hotel accommdation for family near Chennai Airport. I need it between 23:00 of 26 Sept to 05:00 of 27 Sept

Hi, Transit accommodation is available at Chennai airport as well. However number of rooms are limited and are available on first come first serve basis. You will have to meet the airport manager to book rooms when you arrive at the airport.

[manduvindupondu]

Thanks treadmark, andydude. I booked Mars deluxe as it is a matter of just 6 hours. They promised free pick and drop from/to airport.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by urzdeepu

Good to see AL Viking EDC coming in strong numbers now a days. Waiting for Kerala lines.

Viking rotary EDC was always a strong contender since launched in 2010. Most of the AC Vikings in south are EDC only. There is no competitor for this in 11m.

[binaiks]

Bangalore to Thrissur by Kerala RTC Volvo Multi-Axle..

It is a long weekend, and tickets were booked exactly 21 days in advance (Kerala RTC Bookings open 21 days in advance). Being the start of a long weekend, I was expecting long traffic blocks, and a delayed departure - both of which turned out right.

I was booked in the 2000hrs Bangalore-Ernakulam AC Multi-Axle service of Kerala State RTC. I had chosen Bommanahalli on Hosur Road as my boarding point (this place is the closest from my home). I called up the conductor on the official mobile number to find out where they were before I started from home - He replied they were just about to reach Shantinagar (the time was 2045hrs then). That meant I had a lot of time to go. But did not want to risk, and hence headed out at 2100hrs, and was at the bus stop by 2125hrs. By 2130hrs, I made another call to the conductor - for which he replied they had just exited Shantinagar BS (almost an hour there!).

My friend was on board 1930 Bangalore-Thrissur and his bus came to Bommanahalli by 2135hrs - so I expected mine to come by 2200hrs. But that was not the case. My bus turned up at 2224hrs - and the bus was KL-15-A-280 (RS782 of Ernakulam depot). The bus was well kept - was very clean inside. Blankets were neatly folded and kept on the overhead rack above each seat (looked good, instead of hanging them on the backrest). I did not check the odometer reading - but it should be around 95K. I headed straight to my seat - my co-passenger was already there. The conductor came around to check if anything was required. A movie was being played.

Next pick-up was Electronic City - we left from there at 2235hrs. Attibelle toll was crowded - normal before a holiday - it took us 8 minutes to pass this toll. We passed Hosur at 2307hrs. The driver let the beast loose after that - I did not check with the gps, but we were surely doing speeds in the range of 90-95kmph. Driving was very stable - no last minute cuts, or no harsh brakes. WE had the Kollam bound B11R of Kallada for company for a long distance - both the buses ran parallel for quite a lot of time, before our driver finally decided to push ahead.

The bus stopped for dinner at the infamous Hotel Uthaiya (now renamed as Hotel Nandhini) - at 2342hrs. I wonder why KeSRTC still prefers this place over the Sree Krishna Bhavan at Shoolagiri or A2B in Shoolagiri or even the Saravana Bhavan just before Krishnagiri. The break was quite long - the place was crowded like a bus station - with buses and passengers all around. We started after break only at 0013hrs. The movie got over about 15 minutes after we started. After the movie got over, I slowly fell asleep. The driving was very stable - the engine sounded calm and relaxed - I am sure the driver was engaging the cruise control. The sleep was undisturbed and continuous. I woke up when the bus was leaving Athupalam Toll (wonder why they entered Coimbatore town - there were no passengers to alight nor did they pick anyone - there was one empty seat, which was a "not travelled"). We passed Athupalam around 0425.

I continued sleeping, and woke up again as the bus turned off the highway to enter Palakkad town. Bus stopped outside the bus station at 0528 - few passengers got off - and we started off at 0529hrs. The driver had to slow down once we were back on the highway - due to 4 laning works, bad stretches of road and traffic. We stopped at Vadakkenchery (0607) and Pattikad (0630) to drop passengers. I was finally dropped at Thrissur Bus Station at 0650 - interestingly, we reached right behind a Trivandrum Special service (also a Multi-Axle Volvo) which left Bangalore at 1800hrs!!

Overall traveling time of 8h26m, including a 31 minute dinner break. This was my best experience with Kerala RTC's Multi-Axle services - and Off late hearing a lot of positive feedback about this particular service. Hope they continue the good show and win loyal passengers on the route.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Bangalore to Thrissur by Kerala RTC Volvo Multi-Axle..
Overall traveling time of 8h26m, including a 31 minute dinner break.

You were lucky that you managed to book the ticket. I was struggling the very same day, and wasn't lucky. And I was left with a ticket in one of the Airavat special services of KaSRTC. The bus was supposed to depart at 21:48hrs from Shantinagar (reaching Shantinagar from Singasandra bus stop was a hell of a trip - had they offered a boarding point at Bommanahalli or St.John's/Christ College, I wouldn't have been left with an aching body today), but it managed to pull out only at 22:45hrs.

As with all special services, this one too had just the driver, who drove at a snail's pace and also took leisurely breaks very regularly. What really got my goose was that he stopped for a tea break at Madukkarai - why the hell would someone who already took a tea break somewhere before Neelambur again stop after driving through CBE town!!!

Got dropped off at Palakkad KSRTC bus stand at 8 o'clock in the morning. Horrible would be the word for this trip. The bus was clean on the inside, but the seats won't recline propely, and some of the AC vents were broken.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by silversteed

You were lucky that you managed to book the ticket. I was struggling the very same day, and wasn't lucky.

I thing I learnt in the past two peak seasons this year (Onam and now Dussehra) is that the success rate of online bookings is very poor with Kerala State RTC due to the poor capacity of the booking system - the server capacity is actually great but is serviced with a really poor internet connection.

I got the ticket through a regular booking counter at 9 in the morning! Infact, if one could get to a ticket counter by 6AM, chances of getting a ticket on a KeSRTC service is better.

And, KeSRTC always announces deluxe specials one day prior to journey - so waiting for that is another good option.

[manduvindupondu]

Dhanunjaya , Sindhu travels shut shop. Diwakar, Naveen stopped hyd - bang service. Any trend that you see ? Did the inter state taxes increase ?

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by manduvindupondu

Dhanunjaya , Sindhu travels shut shop. Diwakar, Naveen stopped hyd - bang service. Any trend that you see ? Did the inter state taxes increase ?

Technically Diwakar did not stop. The buses were taken over by Yatra Genie (Komitla).