[silversteed]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

Looked like that the bus was purchased from the himachal govt. It was a HP registered HRTC bus.

UPSRTC has taken both the buses on lease - your onward trip was in a Royal Cruiser Scania coach owned by Kaushik Global Logistics Ltd, which is a WB based tour/bus operator. They offer buses on lease to WBSTC, UPSRTC and a couple of other STUs, AFAIK. The return was also in a leased bus, which was previously leased to HRTC.

[dailydriver]

The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has just turned 57. It was incorporated on 01-08-1961. Vishwavani (Dt: 02-08-2018, Pg 10), a Kannada daily, has published an article tracing the corporation's journey. The following picture, gleaned from the same, juxtaposes the past and the present.

[srinivaspai]

i would be reaching the Mysore KSRTC bus stand in early hours around 5 am or so. Is there any facility in the bus stand to take rest and freshen up ,in the similar lines of Bangalore Ksrtc Yathri rooms? to may be take a nap or so till morning? Thanks for reply in advance

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by srinivaspai

i would be reaching the Mysore KSRTC bus stand in early hours around 5 am or so. Is there any facility in the bus stand to take rest and freshen up ,in the similar lines of Bangalore Ksrtc Yathri rooms? to may be take a nap or so till morning? Thanks for reply in advance

Not sure of Yathri rooms, but there are a couple of lodges that offer rooms at cheap rates in the vicinity.

[aroonanand]

Has anyone tried the newly introduced SETC (TN) AC Sleeper Services? Am tempted to try them on the Blr - CBE sector on a forthcoming trip but would like to hear any reviews. Buses are hardly 2 months old, so I am guessing they should be holding up good at this stage !

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by aroonanand

Has anyone tried the newly introduced SETC (TN) AC Sleeper Services? Am tempted to try them on the Blr - CBE sector on a forthcoming trip but would like to hear any reviews. Buses are hardly 2 months old, so I am guessing they should be holding up good at this stage !

I haven't tried. But remember reading a review on Facebook that the buses are kept quite well. The ticket is pricier - hence the crowd is lower. They provide a bedsheet (not a blanket) on board. Water is available on sale reportedly. The buses stick to their time as well.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by aroonanand

Has anyone tried the newly introduced SETC (TN) AC Sleeper Services? Am tempted to try them on the Blr - CBE sector on a forthcoming trip but would like to hear any reviews. Buses are hardly 2 months old, so I am guessing they should be holding up good at this stage !

There's a short feedback here:

EDIT: I guess the first part is not exactly a review for the SETC Sleeper but rather a private operator.

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

I travelled in it last night. It was a beauty. AJ 3636. Had a very nice sleep in the bus all through to Poonamallee where the people began getting dropped off.

It's been running for a week now. Very less buses have been introduced I think. Hopefully they'll run the full fleet soon. It is a SHD.


Also there is a SETC AC sleeper between Bangalore and Chennai at 10:30 PM. Priced at 716 for adults, it's a nice alternative to private operators who charge 1200 on the weekends for this route. Hope the users and the management maintain it in top condition for years to come.

[sinharishi]

Looking for suggestions on safe and best bus operator between Goa and Mumbai(Borivali). MMT and Redbus only lists out Neeta services. What are the other options available?

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

Looking for suggestions on safe and best bus operator between Goa and Mumbai(Borivali). MMT and Redbus only lists out Neeta services. What are the other options available?

I would say try the Kadamba Volvo Biaxle operated by Govt. Of Goa (GSRTC). They have two services - Volvo 2x2 semisleeper and Volvo 2x1 Sleeper. I spot the semisleeper bus quite often in Mumbai here and it's usually maintained in great shape. Since it's a government operated service, you can totally count on safety and reliability.

Amongst private, I would recommend VRL Volvo B9R multiaxle semisleeper. VRL by and large is a notch above every other good operator including Govt. ones.

EDIT - I just checked and understood that only the Kadamba Volvo semisleeper goes till Borivali in Mumbai. The Volvo Sleeper terminates at Mumbai central bus stand.

[sinharishi]

Originally Posted by vivek95

Amongst private, I would recommend VRL Volvo B9R multiaxle semisleeper. VRL by and large is a notch above every other good operator including Govt. ones.

Thanks! I am trying to book tickets for November 6th but I guess its too early. VRL and Kadamba both do not show any buses on the said date.

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

Thanks! I am trying to book tickets for November 6th but I guess its too early. VRL and Kadamba both do not show any buses on the said date.

If you are looking forward to travel around Diwali, the fare would be pretty high even if you book in advance.

Why don't you try to book the train tickets?

[Gansan]

My son has joined NIT Trichy recently. For his occasional weekend home visits to Chennai we are booking train tickets as far as possible. But I have noticed there are two travels which directly connect NITT to Chennai.

One is called Excel Travels which operates AL ac sleeper buses. The buses to Chennai start in front of NITT and also the return buses terminate there. Second is Hebron Travels Multi Axle Volvo, but they only offer a drop at NITT from Chennai. No service in the opposite direction. I have also heard of one RKT Travels which runs to Tanjore from Chennai via Trichy, who may agree to drop at NITT.

Has anyone experienced these services? They cost more than a ac 3 tier train ticket, but then there is no need to commute between NIT and Trichy city (23 km) while leaving for/upon arrival from home, and can save a lot of time. If they are good they will be a good alternative.

[vigsom]

RKT is a hopeless service; you could definitely try Hebron but let me warn you that they drive much faster than, say, an SRM or a KPN.

I have heard Excel is good.

My personal favourites on this sector are Madurai Radha Volvo i-shift and SRM Scania. SETC AC buses belonging to the Trichy depot that run route 123AC are also good.

SRM has a 3:45pm departure from Central Bus Stand that reaches Koyambedu at 9:30pm. Madurai Radha has a 3:30pm departure(pick up at Mannarpuram bypass) that goes through Tambaram and Guindy to Egmore.

@Gansan,

I understand Excel travels picks up passengers from BHEL, Kattur, and other pick up points, goes to Central Bus Stand Trichy and then proceeds to Chennai. If this is true, then it is just a matter of convenience to board at NITT; time saving is non existent.

[dass]

Recently did a back to back trip to Vijayawada from Bangalore to attend to a function.

Onward : Kaveri Travels 9pm Service - Scania
The bus was on time and departed on time from Marathalli. That was the only good thing about this trip. They were carrying a bike in the luggage compartment and some more unauthorized luggage I believe and they got to know of a RTO check at the hoskote toll plaza. So, the drive was very slow and they even made the bike guy get down and ride his bike to the other side of the check post. However, the RTO still stopped the bus and the bus was waiting after the toll plaza for well over 90 mins. They did not make up for the lost time and reached Vijayawada at 9am, instead of the scheduled 7:30pm. The bus was badly maintained, the seats weren't comfortable and the audio system was pathetic. They did provide water bottles and I also saw some cockroaches roaming around on the floor and windows. Did not use the blanket.

Return was through Morning star : 9pm Volvo
This was a much better maintained bus, looked and smelled clean. The interiors were clean as well and the seats were comfortable. They block off the first seat for the spare driver to sleep on and they have placed a wooden plank to help them sleep. This wasn't mentioned in their seat layout and I chose the seat next to it. All through the night, I had to jostle for space with the driver who kept falling over my seat. No water was provided and the TV wasn't used either, so not sure of the audio system. The bus did arrive on time.

For both the journeys, all the rest room and snack breaks were in some really shady and not so good places and almost all the buses seemed to stop there it self, which is surprising considering there are a lot of decentrestaurants on this road.

I will avoid kavery travels considering this is my 2nd bad experience with them, the first one being almost 4 years ago and they don't seem to have improved.

[concorde24]

Any recommendations for Chennai to Bangalore trip Boarding at T.nagar? Earlier, I used to go via KPN which has convenient boarding at Venkatnarayana Road. But now a days it seems it's quality has come down and punctuality as well.

Does Evacay/Orange/Asian Xpress provide pick up at T nagar? Any other recommendations are also welcome.