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Looks like lot of these omni buses cater to IT crowd. Parking near my unit in Siruseri has lot of AP/ TS bound buses parked in the day.

APSRTC/ TSRTC ( not much of TNSTC goes into deep AP/TS) should consider extending a couple of services from Madhavaram/ CMBT to Siruseri. ( like some services to Marathahalli & Ecity in Bangalore)

Any suggestion for a good A/C (sleeper or semi sleeper) bus from Bangalore Madivala to Sembakkam on the Tambaram - Velachery Road?

In Redbus, I see many options with 4.5* and above like Kalaimakal, IntrCity etc but am unaware if the ratings are realistic as I haven't travelled in an omnibus in long long time. I see Parveen Volvo semi sleeper which is expected to reach at 3:15 AM, which is too early

Cleanliness, punctuality, good driving, travel time of upto 7 hrs max and comfortable ride are my priorities.

Had a not so good onward trip. Ac fuse failed somewhere near Nellore and there was a halt near a toll plaza for an hour and a half. They couldn't properly fix it and finally bus proceeded with only the blowers on. We boarded the bus at Koyambedu at 9.15 p.m.but the bus (AP plate) was coming from Siruseri with pickup points enroute. No dinner halt. They stopped for tea/bio break somewhere at 11 p.m. inside TN but there was toilet only for ladies. Men had to relieve themselves under roadside trees. Thumbs down.

Return trip next day was by the same bus with same crew. Trip was much better this time. Ac was working fine but phone charging points didn't. We boarded at Ameerpet at 7.15 P.M. and were dropped at Ashok Pillar next morning at 7.15 a.m. They stopped for dinner at 10.30 p.m somewhere, not sure of the place. Hotel and food were somewhat ok. But it was a place where we will not go willingly.

Bus was Volvo multi axle and quite old, but comfortable. Interiors were clean. Maximum speed observed was 95 kmph on phone. I think bus was maxing out at that point. It appeared unusually long to me.

Took the Chennai-Mysore Vandebharat on my onward trip to Bangalore and returned via V2K travels AC Sleeper. The bus had one of the best ratings on redbus and was one of the few that had a drop off point in Tambaram-Velachery road as it was bound for Medavakkam. Some key points from my trip
1) Bus was an SRM built A/C Sleeper on ALs 12M chassis with leafspring/waveller suspension at the front and pneumatic suspension at the rear.
2) Bus started 15 mins earlier than scheduled from Majestic. They arrived 15 mins early at Madiwala, refuelled at the BP bunk near the police station and left Madivala at 10.00 . I was updated frequently on whatsapp & SMS as soon as it started until it reached Madiwala. The attender called up and asked me to be there are the designated time (10 PM). Was given a half liter water bottle. The bus had one driver and a cleaner for the trip. The berths had cloth lining and a back rest for passenger in case they wish to sit. They provided nice pillows and a woolen blanket
3) Bus was well maintained and driven very sedately with a max speed of around 75kmph (GPS) without any sudden breaks. The driver did not lug the engine at all. The engine note was clean and silent
4) Bus was clean, seats comfortable and a/c maintained at 23 deg C
5) They maintained the scheduled time at every stop throughout the trip.
6) Stopped at a decent place near wallajah toll for 10 mins at 2:30 AM
7) Dropped me at Sembakkam on request even though the schedule stop was at Santoshapuram
8) The staff were very courteous and mentioned that they have 4 buses and will be starting a new service to Marathalli.
9) The LED TV was switched off, which I would have done anyway
10) Lack of air suspension at the front was the only negative if you discount the longer drive time of 6:30 hrs to Koyambedu from Madiwala. Last time I travelled in a sleeper was in SRM many years ago and this was a better experience.

Last Saturday, I travelled from Kochi to Bangalore on one of these and it was second trip of this particular bus. Started from KSRTC bus stand at 7:20pm and was at Bangalore (Silk Board) at 6:45, with a dinner break and passenger pick-up at Thrissur Bus stand. Fare was Rs 1700.

I travel rarely by bus, but whenever I do, I take KaRTC or KeRTC Volvo sleeper buses. Comparable buses are KSRTC Dream Class (Volvo B11R Rs 1500) and KeRTC SWIFT Gajaraj (Volvo B11R Rs 1227).

Likes:

• Berth is slightly (may be an inch or two) longer than the Ambari Dream Class (B11R)
• Very plush, bright interiors. The quality of materials and fit and finish is top class.
• Double USB charging port per berth (instead of 220v outlet of Dream Class)
• Curtain in between of double berth for privacy.

Dislikes:

• Speed locked to 80kmph. The vehicle crossed 80kmph at exacty 4 instances (from my GPS log) on the entire trip (530kms), may be on down slope. This is the most tiring part. I don't know about the private buses now, but gone are the days when I get to Kochi in 7-8 hours in a Volvo.
• White interiors may get dirty soon.
• The fare is 1700 compared to 1500 for Ambari Dreamclass. As a passenger, there is nothing much you get with this extra cost.

A few pics taken during the dinner break.

Pre pandemic Asian Xpress (Scanias) was my preferred mode of overnight travel from Bangalore to Chennai. Recently, I found they seem to phased to have replaced these full sized multi axle buses with something innocuously mentioned as 'Bharat Benz ac seater 2+2' in Redbus


My concept of fast and comfortable intercity travel class is a rear engined, multi axle, automatic transmission 'full size' bus and I was curious if Mercedes (misread Bharat Benz TBH) multi axle buses were still plying. My hunch turned out correct, this was a 'regular' front engined, single axle Bharat Benz where I am not sure about automatic transmission nor the power & refinement one expects


I wonder if it is accelerates and rides as seamlessly as the full sized multi axles, otherwise it has no business to be nestled in the midst of B11Rs and Metrolinks

Just quoting you but for the benefit of others too. BSR travels is currently running the new 9600 Volvo in Chennai - Hyderabad route. Since I no longer do Chennai - Bangalore to explore KSRTC 9600, I tried it last weekend.

Onward journey from Hyderabad got only last upper berth U19 which was horrible with engine heat reducing AC cooling, vibration and cramped berth being last. The seat back protrusions didn't help. Avoid last berth.Now the return journey in the front berth and things are okay.

Bus was exactly like KSRTC pictures including colour scheme of interior. So not posting any pictures. Volvo badge is screaming in pillow and seat back which is not to my liking. Bus operator service is very average and not sure bed spreads are clean as V. Kaveri. But bus is driven slow and no rash driving which is to my liking.

Do any bus operators between Bangalore-Hyderabad provide real-time GSP tracking? Given the unpredictable city traffic, how do people figure out when exactly their bus will come to their pick up point? The other day, I was seeing a friend off and his pick up point was near Hebbal. With so much traffic and so many buses going in that direction, it was a bit painful to wait for and to identify the bus.

For comparison, you can track the status of the train and have a pretty good idea about the time of arrival, platform no, coach position, etc. so one doesn't need to go to the station too early like the olden days.

Not sure about Bangalore but private buses from Hyderabad and Chennai like Vkaveri, BSR provide GPS tracking link for the pickup points. If you book through Redbus, you can find this under amenities. For Van pick up, they call and confirm once they reach the previous pickup point.

We took the Airavat Club Class from Mangalore to Bangalore recently. I am not sure how old the bus was, but the interior appeared quite run down. My children wanted to wear the seat belts out of habit, but they didn't look like they were used any time in the recent past. Belt buckle itself was missing for two of our seats. Remnants of someone's chewing gum was on my handrest :Frustrati The seats also looked like they needed some dusting/cleaning. Thankfully, they were still comfortable. When we got going, under acceleration in the first couple of gears, we could hear some mechanical noises. When the bus stopped for everyone to get some refreshments, it was raining, and a continuous stream of water was coming down from the overhead luggage rack. It was near the front door, and did not appear to occur while was bus was moving. Towards the end of the journey, the driver appeared to struggle with upshifts. Despite all other issues, the ride was comfortable. The speed was kept in check and the driver also appeared to be considerate towards other road users in smaller vehicles. There were many instances where I was sure a Kerala SRTC or private bus driver would have done an overtake pushing oncoming cars and bikes off the road, but this guy pulled out of the move when he saw traffic. Kudos for that :thumbs up. The bus stopped at two places for refreshments. I cannot comment on the food as we didn't eat at either place. The second one had decent restrooms. In the end, we reached Majestic about 20 mins late mainly due to the Bangalore traffic.

Volvo B11r sleeper journey between Chennai and Coimbatore

Had a chance to try out new operator in the South YAS travels between Chennai- Coimbatore.
Quick summary is as follows
Actual Route : Chennai - Pondicherry - Coimbatore - Ernakulam - Kottayam
Travelled route : Chennai - Coimbatore
Departure time : 8 PM Scheduled / 8.20 PM Actual (Thiruvanmiyur)
Dropping time : 5 AM Scheduled / 5.10 AM Actual (Karpagam college)

About the operator :
After AL , Tata and BB journeys for almost an year. Finally heard the news that there is a new operator with Multi Axle buses in TN - KL routes. After Evacay has stopped operating this route was seeing a huge gap in these routes.
YAS seems to be a new operator and they have taken delivery of around 11 Volvos. 8 sleepers (Volvo built) and 3 semi sleepers.
Routs seems to be
Madurai - Hyderabad - 1 Multi axle Sleeper
Ernakulam - Hyderabad - 1 Multi axle sleeper and 1 Multi axle semi sleeper
Chennai- Pondy - Kottayam - 1 Multi axle sleeper
Chennai- Bangalore - Aleppey - Looks like the sole 13.5m Bi axle is alternating

Vehicle has a scheduled departure time of 7 PM from Coimbatore. Got Crew number and Tracking location at 6.30 PM. Had some initial difficulty in finding boarding point at Thiruvanmiyur but with help of crew boarded the bus around 8.20 PM. The delay is acceptable as the bus has to cross entire chennai 😅 Bus crawled through traffic till it crossed uthandi toll.
Had dinner break at 9.10 to 9.40 PM at Motel Mamalla near Mahabalipuram. The usual stop of Parveen and Kallada. Reached Pondicherry bus stand around 11.15 PM. Honking was a bit om higher side in ECR , which is perfectly fine as the users know how notorious the stretch is.

Coming to the interiors the vehicle is just 3 months old and is mint fresh. Will let pictures do the talking

Interior shots

Upper Double Berth


Upper Single


Standard back rest with Volvos. Could have had a better bolstering


Luggage tray. A radical departure from the usual steel trays.


AC Vent. Have only direction control and no flow control. Two switches for two different small LED strips. And they were turned off centrally

Exterior shots

And the B11r sleepers comes with USB Type A port, so had some difficulty in using it as most of the new phones come with a Type C. Heard 9600 comes with a Type C port also.

Journey as a whole was uneventful and a perfect mile muncher. Berth firmness was at comfortable levels. Bottle of water and a tetra pack of a fruit drink was given complimentary. Berth length was just sufficient, with 13.5M 36 berth sleepers being the new benchmark. Body roll is comparable to another RE sleepers and being on lower berth it wasn't much of a concern.

The curtains could have been designed better as they tend to move whenever vehicle brakes. Reached Neelambur around 5 PM where there was a transfer vehicle waiting to take passengers getting dropped inside coimbatore also bringing along with it passengers from Coimbatore towards Kottayam..

Overall a comfortable journey with no major complaints. Will definitely try this operator again.

Folks any recommendation for bus operators between Pune and Hyderabad. Have to do an urgent run along with wife as one of the closest relatives demised. Any bus which has sleeper options, is punctual and has less fatigue? I am seeing prices around 3K for the route from Orange travels, is it that expensive? 3k for 567 kms is equal to flight charges almost. :Frustrati

Did Pune to Hyd last year August in Orange A.C. Sleeper ( Departed around 8:30 pm near Pune Rly Station reaching Miyapur around 6-6:30 in the morning ). As far as I remember, the ride was comfortable if you are acquainted with Bus Rides.

But yes, 3k seems expensive . IT should be around 1500/- or so !

Even I thought so. They are milking in the name of festival when in reality the no of buses plus the passengers will be at an all time high thereby actually reducing the fare of travel. I guess they want to make a quick buck of the rush. Unfortunately Telangana State road transport does not run sleeper buses between the two cities surprisingly.

I had two occasions of travel between Bangalore and Mysore in a KSRTC EV Power Plus (Olectra make)

A single axle semi sleeper coach so it's not as long as the Airavat Club Casses. Contemporary dashboard and interiors


A display unit shows routes and doubles up as a reverse camera with proximity sensors (I\'m not sure if the Volvos had proximity sensors


Fancy display for air quality


4 USB charging ports (!) per twin seats (presumably they charge slow!)



Responsive like an EV is expected to be and ride quality is good too. Quite noisy in the back (yes!) due to the racket the electrical drive train makes. But I still rate the Volvo 9600 as having the best high speed poise and comfort.

I usually pick the first row seats in the Volvos for the extra legroom but this one doesn't. The space is exactly the same as any other rows but the issue is one can't tuck legs under. Front row aisle is a good spot as the legs can go outside the panel in front.
The right side window seat at the far rear end actually has a missing front row for the emergency exit and the spot to aim for ensuring legroom (one can't actually reach the seatback in front without getting off:D)