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Friends, I have an exam at KSIT, Raghuvanahalli, Banglore which will be over by 4PM on 19th March , Sunday. Need to return to Trivandrum. Can someone please recommend a good operator?

That is about 12kms from Madiwala - if you manage to get a cab immediately after the exam, you should be able to get to Madiwala by 5pm. As such, its difficult to pin-point a particular "good" operate to Trivandrum these days - everyone has become a mixed bag, off late. Orange is a good option - especially the sleeper. Their Scania tends to get late since it passes Nagercoil well past 7am, and Monday morning traffic in the Nagercoil-Trivandrum stretch could be a bother.

Kallada's Mercedes Sleeper seems to be getting good reviews off late. Among seaters, Kallada G4 'might' be a good option. I'd suggest taking Orange Sleeper or Kallada G4 seater.

Orange , by far the best. They have their bad days too, but much better than anyone else I have experienced. Only advantage with KPN is if there is a break down enroute, they will be able get an alternate bus if they want it.

Thanks binaiks. KalladaG4 is through Nagarkoil? I dont prefer sleepers.

Anyone having a experience of carrying a led tv in these travels? In particular I'm thinking of taking 40" tv in KPN sleeper coach from bangalore to Madurai. Is it safe to carry in the bus? And no problem by the bus operator?

If it is across a state border octroi people might interfere.

Boarding at hosur, Also the TV was bought in flipkart few months before and the invoice should be having Hosur address.

Zero problems with octroi people then. Pack it even more securely (pad with more thermocol, pillows etc) and tip the conductor so that he doesn't dump other bags on it when placing it in the hold.

G4 has services through Nagercoil as well as Ernakulam. The last buses are via Nagercoil.

TVs need to be booked seperately. Operators levy a seperate charge for carrying the TV. It is generally around the price of an adult ticket. You need to carry the original bill along with it, and the passenger should also travel in the same bus. I am not sure if they will carry TVs in Sleepers - generally they are kept in luggage holds of Volvo/Scania buses.

Sorry to nitpick, Octroi is no more collected in the country. They collect Sales Tax, but it is not levied on personal use products unless you carry such things in large numbers. "Entry" tax was also banned a few years ago.

I traveled on APSRTC's Amaravathi Scanias from Hyderabad to Vijayawada and back two times in the last one month. The ride quality and sound insulation were excellent, but the seats were too narrow and uncomfortable. I feel the seats in the Garuda Volvos and Mercedes are far better.

I traveled last month from Bangalore to Trichy to and fro in Greenland's travels AC sleeper.

Absolutely punctual and comfortable buses. The bus reached Madiwala five minutes ahead of time and left exactly at the scheduled time and reached Trichy at the scheduled time of 6:30.

Similarly in return, the bus was dot on time at central bus stand @ 22:30 and reached Silk board at 6:15.

I travelled by Orange AC Sleeper recently from Bangalore to Gulbarga and ended up pleasantly surprised:

1. Spotless sheets, curtains and super clean bus, inside out.
2. On time departure, before time arrival.
3. Was offered a bottle of water and a snack box containing a cookie, a tea cake, some namkeen and a chewing gum. All the food was tasty and fresh.
4. Just the right AC temperature.
5. Good driving. No jerks or sudden moves. Only when the road was bad, it was bouncy since it was a "mamooli" bus.
6. Everything was working, the charging point, TV, bed lamp etc.

I'd recommend them again for this route.:thumbs up

Are they good across other routes?

They have been excellent on Bangalore to Hyderabad route also.
My sister uses them all the time, even though it is on expensive side.

I booked for Orange semi sleeper from Banglore to Trivandrum for tomorrow night. Today afternoon they informed that the service is cancelled. But they had the courtesy to say that they can arrange the seat in some other bus or can refund the amount. They offered a berth in their sleeper at no extra cost. They person who called me to update the info was very polite and spoke good english. Seems Orange is a good operator.

The journey was event full. The bus arrived at Madiwala at about 7PM and checked in. The bus was clean inside out. A clean quality blanket was kept in the berth. Started from Madiwala at 8 08 pm ( Schd time 8PM). They provided a snack and a bottle of water. Picked up passengers from Electronic city at about 8 31PM and passed Hosur by about 9PM.

Soon after we crossed Hosur, heard a slight bang sound, the driver braked hard, there was severe burning smell of rubber all over and bus came to a sudden halt. Someone has crossed the road without looking for on coming vehicle and our bus had hit him. Ambulance came within 10 minutes and took him to hospital. Driver informed that he cannot continue the journey as he should report to police station. They informed us that they are trying for some alternate arrangements. We waited for about an hour. By the time KalladaG4 semi sleeper came and they arranged seat for us in that bus. I reached Trivandrum by 8 AM.