[ontheroad]

Originally Posted by sandeep959

Hi everyone.

I am planning to travel, with family(3yr old kid) between Bangalore and Trivandrum in the first week of June. Trains are taking min 15hrs.

Any reliable bus operator suggestions please, preferably a sleeper coach, so that the kid is taken care of. Checked a few online, but not much of reviews.

First option would be flight. Second option would be sleeper service of Orange travels. I think Orange sleeper starts at 8PM from Madiwala and would reach TVM by 9AM latest. The route is through Nagarkovil.

[adhiraj]

Hi Guys,

I have a flight to catch at 6am from Kochi international airport. I will be travelling from Bangalore ecity.

I have 2 options to reach Kochi:

a. KeSRTC bus departing at 13.00 hours and reaching at 23.30 at Ernakulum.

b. KSRTC bus departing at 16.40 hours and reaching Ernakulum at 02.00 hrs next day.

Are both these buses punctual as per their given timings?

Also please feel free to suggest any better bus services. Ideal timing would be to start off from blr by 16.00 and reach by 02.00 hrs in Ernakulum.

Thanks
Adhiraj

[TKMCE]

Originally Posted by adhiraj

Hi Guys,

I have a flight to catch at 6am from Kochi international airport. I will be travelling from Bangalore ecity.

I have 2 options to reach Kochi:

a. KeSRTC bus departing at 13.00 hours and reaching at 23.30 at Ernakulum.

b. KSRTC bus departing at 16.40 hours and reaching Ernakulum at 02.00 hrs next day.

Are both these buses punctual as per their given timings?

Also please feel free to suggest any better bus services. Ideal timing would be to start off from blr by 16.00 and reach by 02.00 hrs in Ernakulum.

Thanks
Adhiraj

Forget the option B. This is the KSRTC Bangalore Thiruvananthapuram Volvo. Never ever punctual. I assume you will be taking an international flight out of Kochi. In that case - definitely rule out this option B.

Option A as far as I can see is a the KeSRTC Bangalore Trivandrum Scania. However this goes via Mysore and Calicut. Unless there is a traffic block in the Ghat section in Wyanad (possible as monsoon is starting very soon), this is a better option. Also one of the buses on this route had an accident near Trivandrum a couple of months back and the driver lost his life. Do not know if the bus is repaired yet. if not on alternate days you may have a Super Express or Super Fast operating the service which can make it a very uncomfortable journey. Hence please recheck this with the KeSRTC guys at Bangalore who are usually very helpful



However I would strongly recommend you to fly and take the last Indigo departure at 2215 which reaches Bangalore at 2330. Except on Fridays or long weekends, the fare on this particular departure rarely touches 3000 Rs even at the last minute

If you are insisting on going by bus, I would suggest you get down at Angamaly KeSRTC bus station which is about 7 kilometres from the airport. The bus crew usually are happy to stop at Athani which is closer to the airport , however the conveyance to the airport is more difficult from this point, particularly in the night and if it rains.

Uber and Ola has coverage in Angamaly but availability is not great and even if you get one , there is every chance that the driver may not be thrilled when he hears your destination as it is a very short trip for them and there is every chance his previous trip would have been to Angamaly after waiting anything from 2 to 4 hours in the airport! However there is an Autorickshaw stand just outside the KeSRTC bus station and usually the ride should not cost more than 250 Rs maximum. I have found the auto guys in that particular stand are mostly a honest bunch.

[treadmark]

Originally Posted by adhiraj

Hi Guys,

I have a flight to catch at 6am from Kochi international airport. I will be travelling from Bangalore ecity.

Thanks
Adhiraj

Originally Posted by TKMCE

However I would strongly recommend you to fly
If you are insisting on going by bus, I would suggest you get down at Angamaly KeSRTC bus station which is about 7 kilometres from the airport. The bus crew usually are happy to stop at Athani which is closer to the airport , however the conveyance to the airport is more difficult from this point, particularly in the night and if it rains.

Uber and Ola has coverage in Angamaly but availability is not great and even if you get one , there is every chance that the driver may not be thrilled when he hears your destination as it is a very short trip for them and there is every chance his previous trip would have been to Angamaly after waiting anything from 2 to 4 hours in the airport! However there is an Autorickshaw stand just outside the KeSRTC bus station and usually the ride should not cost more than 250 Rs maximum. I have found the auto guys in that particular stand are mostly a honest bunch.

I would suggest to fly, as TKMCE mentioned this is the safest option and shouldn't burn your pocket much.

Though KeSRTC is punctual on most of the days there is risk of crossing ghat roads which may play a spoil sport and you don't want to be on this situation. If it happens you will be left with very few / no alternatives.

You can also check with Kallada G4 and Suresh they have few services to Angamaly between 1 and 3 PM, be sure to check whether they take Salem or Mysore route and stay away from the ones that takes Mysore route. The ones through Salem usually take 10 ~ 11 Hours from Madiwala

Cheers!

[batterylow]

Originally Posted by aroonanand

Has anyone tried the new EVACAY Scania AC seater service between Bangalore and Coimbatore? Has extremely good ratings on Redbus, seems to be a new operator with a brand new bus, and is offering mouth-watering fares of Rs. 600 even for weekends (30-50% cheaper than most other options)

Took the Bangalore Coimbatore EVACAY last weekend. It was a new bus with the odo around the 36K mark. I took it from Madiwala at 2 pm and the bus was ahead of time. There were two halts, A half hour one after crossing Hosur and another small 10 minute somewhere after Erode. Reached Gandhipuram bus stand 40 mins late (8.40 against 8 in the ticket).

The bus was clean and we were provided with a half liter water bottle and a blanket. The bus seems to have been speed restricted to 100 kmph as I didn't see the speedo going beyond that. The fare was around 530 rupees which I feel is a good deal almost similar to what one would pay in a AC chair car by train.

The only fly in the ointment was the movie blaring over the speakers and I definitely need to carry a pair of ear plugs the next time around.

Also we had a AsianXpress Volvo Multiaxle park next to the Scania Metrolink and got a comparo picture of the two behemoths together. Note the difference in axle arrangement between them.



The distinctive lively.

[Rahul Rao]

Originally Posted by batterylow

Also we had a AsianXpress Volvo Multiaxle park next to the Scania Metrolink and got a comparo picture of the two behemoths together. Note the difference in axle arrangement between them.

The Volvo has a fixed pusher axle, while the Scania has a steered Tag axle.
One can observe the Tag axle turn in the direction opposite to the front axle at slow speeds. It is supposed to stop steering at a particular speed, and steer very lightly in the same direction as the front axle to control oversteer at higher speeds. I have tried observing in Ghats and highway curves, but havent been able to spot this action.

Rahul

[SchumiFan]

Originally Posted by batterylow

Took the Bangalore Coimbatore EVACAY last weekend.

Thank you for the review. Would you mind telling me where do they stop at Madiwala? It is mentioned as the Petrol bunk near police station, but I have seen them come inside near KPN office as well. I called the number provided and was told to come to Petrol bunk but since you have travelled already, it would be better to get the info first hand.

Do they provide SMS tracking? Mentioning the number of the bus and its departure from different boarding points?

Asian Xpress do it and it's massively helpful.

TIA 😀

[aroonanand]

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

Do they provide SMS tracking? Mentioning the number of the bus and its departure from different boarding points?

Asian Xpress do it and it's massively helpful.

How reliable is the SMS tracking? The reason I ask is because of a weird situation last week - my wife was travelling from Blr to Coimbatore and she was booked on Dreamliner travels with a pick up at KR Puram Station. We got an SMS with the driver number and a link to track the bus. That link showed that the bus was somewhere near Lalbagh (15 mins before the scheduled pick up time) and sensing an issue, or a massive delay, I called the driver who said he would pick us in 15 minutes in KR Puram. Indeed the bus came in 15 minutes and then we realized that this was a Chennai bound bus which acts as a pick-up vehicle for CBE passengers in East Bangy. They had sent us tracking of the actual bus to Coimbatore, which would also pick up Chennai pax in Lalbagh, KR Market etc and both buses meet at Madiwala and then passengers are asked to change buses, where applicable.

If I had left home relying solely on the tracking, we would have missed the bus

PS: I had used the tracking feature of Aditya Travels once and it was accurate.

[SchumiFan]

Originally Posted by aroonanand

How reliable is the SMS tracking?

PS: I had used the tracking feature of Aditya Travels once and it was accurate.

These fellas send an SMS every time the bus leaves a boarding point. I generally board at Adyar. So I get SMS once the bus leaves Velachery, Tharamani. Not after that.

The link is also there but like you say, it messes up in a few buses.

[batterylow]

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

Thank you for the review. Would you mind telling me where do they stop at Madiwala? It is mentioned as the Petrol bunk near police station, but I have seen them come inside near KPN office as well. I called the number provided and was told to come to Petrol bunk but since you have travelled already, it would be better to get the info first hand.

Do they provide SMS tracking? Mentioning the number of the bus and its departure from different boarding points?

Asian Xpress do it and it's massively helpful.

TIA 😀

The stop is in front of Venkateswara hospital on the other side of the road. This was also mentioned on my ticket, but you seem to have a different pick up point.
SMS tracking was provided and I got texts once the bus left Majestic and also Shantinagar. Previous to this I got a text with the bus number too.

[freakmuzik]

So I want to share with you all one scary experience that I had recently while travelling to chennai in a Volvo B9R of Kallada (named the G4). As usual, I had booked a ticket the previous night to travel to Chennai from Trivandrum and this option was the only one suitable at that moment. I usually prefer Parveen travels over others as my experience has been pleasant mostly. So the G4 is a relatively older bus and hence, slightly cheaper too. I slept that night and as I wake up, the bus was parked right on the highway. And as I checked around, people started getting out so I too got out to see what happened. To my ultimate shock, the right rear tyre was totally gone and all that was remaining were small pieces of rubber threads. There literally was no tyre left. I was so glad the bus didn't end up in an accident. My phone wasn't working on that day and so I don't have a photo other than the one I took in a Nokia C1-01 (which is of no use). I went around to check the other tyres and was shocked to see all of them completely bald. And the spare tyre that they swapped was equally bad too. I really did not know how to react at that moment. I was thinking of raising a complaint with the M.V Department here though I do not know what it will result in. I really wish these Travel giants maintained their buses in safe condition and not torture them and the customers to this extent.

[DWind]

Originally Posted by Rahul Rao

The Volvo has a fixed pusher axle, while the Scania has a steered Tag axle.
One can observe the Tag axle turn in the direction opposite to the front axle at slow speeds. It is supposed to stop steering at a particular speed, and steer very lightly in the same direction as the front axle to control oversteer at higher speeds. I have tried observing in Ghats and highway curves, but havent been able to spot this action.

Rahul

OT! more information on debate between Tag axle and pusher axle can be found here. The website is treasure trove of info for CV buffs. Be sure to go thru other topics.

[SchumiFan]

Traveled in the Evacay bus last night. A mixed experience to be honest.

The bus is ultra cool with its warm white lights instead of the regular white. It has the pathway illuminated as well which is a classy touch. The red carpet plus the red seats and red screens along with the yellow lighting gave it a classy look, almost like a good theater.

It was raining pretty heavily and traffic was down to a crawl. Still I started by 11 and reached the Petrol Bunk near Madiwala Police Station by 11:35 PM. I get a call from the operator and I tell him that I am at the bunk. He tells me that the bus is on the opposite end and asks me to come there. Me, being an idiot, risked my life and crossed it in the pouring rain. It was 11:50 already. I was the only one in the bus and the bus went over the Madiwala underpass only to come back and stop near the bunk Had to deal with the police as well who was knocking the bus at every chance he got.

The coordinator was a very young guy and hence I didn't give him a piece of my mind at that point. He was clearly not able to do the task and was fumbling around trying to contact the travelers. After further chaos at Silk Board, we finally get moving only to be blocked at the end of the elevated highway. Almost half hour goes away before we can cross the place. We finally reach Hosur at ~2AM.

The bus was driven smoothly with very less jerks or honks and reached CMBT at 5:40 AM.

I am going to write a mail to the operator. They need to get a stop at Venkateshwara hospital or over the underpass. The petrol bunk stop simply doesn't work. The SMS with the details of the bus needs to come at least an hour before travel. I got it at 12:11 AM after I am into the bus. There was no way to contact the travels/driver.

The sleeper bus to some destination comes to Venkateshwara Hospital stop but this one doesn't. It simply doesn't make sense.

If they get the boarding point rectified and if they manage to board the travelers quicker, they are a smooth operator.

Lastly, the driver was driving with music all night. At very low volume and some old Illayaraja hits. The sound quality was good and not disturbing. A welcome relief from music played over mobile. Wish they stop talking over phone while driving though. A complaint with all drivers these days.

Originally Posted by batterylow

The stop is in front of Venkateswara hospital on the other side of the road. This was also mentioned on my ticket, but you seem to have a different pick up point.

Thank you! I boarded it at petrol bunk. Different buses of the same travels have different pickup points. This is not an ideal situation. The travel was good otherwise.

[aroonanand]

Originally Posted by aroonanand

How reliable is the SMS tracking? The reason I ask is because of a weird situation last week - my wife was travelling from Blr to Coimbatore and she was booked on Dreamliner travels with a pick up at KR Puram Station. We got an SMS with the driver number and a link to track the bus. That link showed that the bus was somewhere near Lalbagh (15 mins before the scheduled pick up time) and sensing an issue, or a massive delay, I called the driver who said he would pick us in 15 minutes in KR Puram. Indeed the bus came in 15 minutes and then we realized that this was a Chennai bound bus which acts as a pick-up vehicle for CBE passengers in East Bangy. They had sent us tracking of the actual bus to Coimbatore, which would also pick up Chennai pax in Lalbagh, KR Market etc and both buses meet at Madiwala and then passengers are asked to change buses, where applicable.

If I had left home relying solely on the tracking, we would have missed the bus

Another trip completed on Dreamliner Travels on the Bangalore - Coimbatore - Bangalore sector by my wife and another thumbs up for the operator. The biggest convenience for me is the choice of pick up points all along Indira Nagar - KR Puram - Outer Ring Road - Madiwala which really works with my house in Whitefield.

Both sectors, bus was AR registered,was clean, well maintained, on time and driven quite sedately. Onward, picked up at KR Puram by 1115 PM by the Chennai service (which serves as pick up for Coimbatore - see above post for a minor confusion on bus tracking) and after changing buses at Madiwala, was dropped off at Gandhipuram by 6 AM.

On the way back, bus left Coimbatore Omni Bus Stand by 1115 PM and reached KR Puram by 615 AM. My wife suddenly developed some symptoms of food poisoning (throwing up, bad tummy) as she was waiting for the bus and the crew upon realizing this, did all they could to keep her comfortable. At her request, they requested a male pax on the lower berth if he could take the upper one so that my wife doesnt feel nauseated on the upper berth. Also asked her if she had medicines or whether they should stop somewhere and buy / arrange for it and upon reaching KR Puram, took care of unloading her bags, even the laptop bag from the berth and handed it to me so that she didnt have to strain herself.

Hats off to the crew and wish they continue this great service. Will continue to be my preferred operator for the Blr - CBE sector (will want to try them on Chennai sector also).

[poised2drive]

I frequently travel in between Hyderabad and Vijayawada and mostly travel either by Orange Travels [ Scania] or APSRTC [ Scania] or TSRTC [Volvo,Mercedes] .

Today, I took a TSRTC Merc [ it seemed badly beaten and bruised horse] in the morning.

The Hyd-Vijayawada buses halt at Suryapet and in the monday morning, you get to see all the RTC's most Expensive Fleet in this stand.

And this morning, as my bus was about to leave the station, I got to see this Scania Biodiesel, just entering . It is being used by the Telangana RTC . This is the first time I am seeing this bus in spite of my biweekly travels in this route.

[Sorry for the bad image, had to hurry]