[aroonanand]

Originally Posted by girishglg

Just travelled couple of days back in a VRL Isuzu from Blr - Chennai. The pickup was punctual at Madiwala while the actual service starts from Anandrao circle. This was my first experience in a Isuzu and I must say I was positively impressed with the best legroom that I ever had in a long time IMO better than even the club class (not exactly measured though) though felt the seat width was slightly narrower. The overhead bins were also very sleek almost aircraft like. There was some blaring movie playing till Hosur. Also I was mighty impressed with the pickup and power the Isuzu engine packed and felt similar to Volvos in road munching abilities.

The driver shot to his destination right from the word go. He was speeding like nobody's business, braking hard and wafting through the traffic. Definitely very jerky drive. He was honking continuously on the trucks in front and here i would say that though the engine noise and vibrations were low for a rear engined bus, the noise did filter through and all the honking did make it an uncomfortable experience to sleep well. Also the driver cut off the A/c around an hour before Chennai making it stuffy for all. On insistance by passengers he again switched it and off again. Don't know who has instructed him to do so!

All this quick drive resulted in the bus reaching Chennai by 5 AM and dropped just before Koyembedu near the Toyota showroom. The bus was maintained ok but had cracked windshields all over. Wonder why do they not change it even after such damage. Will it not be a safety hazard to passengers in case there is another hit on the weak spots.

Overall the experience was good in this bus but for the jerky and noisy driving. Hope there is some feedback mechanism to get this corrected.

Thanks for this review; I was searching for reviews of the VRL Isuzu couple of days back. I am taking this bus from Chennai to Bangalore on SUnday 26 Feb; will share my comments after the journey!

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Its always safe to retard using retarder and then use service brakes.
In Mark1 it was manual and in all the recent versions, they are coupled with the brake pedal itself.
Once the driver applies brake, invariably the initial retardation will be from retarder and next service brakes comes to picture. This increases the brake pad life upto 300%.

There was also a 4th pedal; it was right below the steering wheel (centre of the console). What is that for?

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

There was also a 4th pedal; it was right below the steering wheel (centre of the console). What is that for?

If you have seen it wll inside and below the console, its the lever for adjusting rack and reach of steering wheel!

[TKMCE]

Travelled VRL Multi Axle Mumbai to Bangalore yesterday on their first Volvo departure of the day which was at 11 AM from Andheri. I am impressed and they are a class act.

Booking was done the previous day from one of their agents in Andheri ,Marina Travels from where I also boarded the bus. Agent did it on the VRL website but in my presence and I could chose the seat which was 3rd from last row and a window seat. The ticket was issued in the VRL stationary in triplicate but all details were manually filled in and immediately I got an SMS as well with seat no and boarding details.At 10 15 Am(starting point of the bus from Boriivli) I got another SMS reconfirming the boarding point and giving me the bus no. Bus arrived on the dot at 11AM. I had two bags to be put in the hold and they were tagged individually and two counterfoils given. Bus reached ahead of time at Sion and for the next 20 mins was given a conducted tour of Sion byelines till 12noon. After it left Vashi bus was almost 90% full and and after Katraj only one seat in the last row was vacant.

Well maintained bus and three food stops ,1 for lunch before Lonavla, next an hour after Katraj at 5 PM and finally at 10 Pm for dinner before Belgaum. Video wa switched off at 10 PM. Around 11 PM, the bus stopped and soon we were told that the bus had broken down (Some air hose broken) and we have to wait for a replacement bus. Now comes the most impressive part. The new bus (another multi axle volvo) comes in 15 min!!! All pax bags in the hold as well as the parcels,cartons in the hold ere quickly transferred and by 12 Midnight, the new bus was on the way!!!! Most impressive- pax could board the bus at 1130 and the AC was switched on and the crew checked that all bags were transferred and nothing left behind. The crew of the bus which broke down remained behind and the new crew operated for the rest of the journey. Reached Tumkur at 0630 and I got down at Yeshwantpur by 7 Am. Never in my 20 years of long distance travel have I seen such a smooth handling of a break down!!! It justified the VRL reputation to the fullest. Buses were well maintained, blankets were clean (no water provided) and the TV was put at sensible volume.

Overall very impressive and as and when they start services to Kerala they will give established players a run for their money!!!

There was a Sharma Volvo which was keeping pace with the VRL service (and finally reached ahead after the break down) but VRL had more of the corporate crowd. No sign of the Neeta service which departs at the same time (but they dont use the same places as VRL and Sharma for breaks) . Also saw a KeSRTC B7R (not Club class) between Mumbai and Mysore but routing via Hubli and Shimoga, Interesting routing and I guess most convenient for Calicut

[deepclutch]

Has Neeta Travels started Buses to Kerala? I saw a Neeta bus possibly towards Bangalore starting from Thodupuzha/Pala today evening passing through here.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by deepclutch

Has Neeta Travels started Buses to Kerala? I saw a Neeta bus possibly towards Bangalore starting from Thodupuzha/Pala today evening passing through here.

They've started an AC bus between Bangalore and Mundakkayam. It is a Sutlej built bus.

[Soccerfan]

Travelled in Padikkal Isuzu from blr to kochi yesterday. Left madiwala at around 8.50 PM and reached pipeline, palarivattom by 5.35 AM. Nice comfortable ride and pickup as well.

[gold class]

Originally Posted by binaiks

They've started an AC bus between Bangalore and Mundakkayam. It is a Sutlej built bus.

They Started operations one month back.The buses are 12M A/C Sutlej with SS seats.
Also saw this advt in sharma transports website. Any Info ???

[f1fan]

Originally Posted by gold class

They Started operations one month back.The buses are 12M A/C Sutlej with SS seats.
Also saw this advt in sharma transports website. Any Info ???

Looks like Sharma is launching the Volvo 9400PX steered axle bus on the MUM-BLR route.

More details about this model:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/commer...-5m-coach.html

[coolclouds]

Saw this image on Facebook and surprised to see a Mercedes Benz in the list. Is it a real snap? if yes, what route?

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Saw this image on Facebook and surprised to see a Mercedes Benz in the list. Is it a real snap? if yes, what route?

Someone did it for timepass. Even the officers at KeSRTC are not aware of Mercedes buses in their organisation

Btw, 6 images in this collage is from my photopage.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Someone did it for timepass. Even the officers at KeSRTC are not aware of Mercedes buses in their organisation

Btw, 6 images in this collage is from my photopage.

Cool....! In fact, the KSRTC font looks similar to KaSRTC

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Saw this image on Facebook and surprised to see a Mercedes Benz in the list. Is it a real snap? if yes, what route?

The person who made this knows how to Google for images, but doesn't know how to verify if they are for real or edited.

There are no Mercs in the KSRTC fleet, yet. And the AshLey LF non-AC bus is also called a Volvo.

Originally Posted by binaiks

Someone did it for timepass. Even the officers at KeSRTC are not aware of Mercedes buses in their organisation

Btw, 6 images in this collage is from my photopage.

One more flaw - the creator hasn't bothered to check the watermark! Your watermark is clearly visible in all of them ;-)

[avira_tk]

Came back on a Kallada B9R from Kerala on Sunday, the bus was brand new, everything in place and working. The front row had lap belts and the seats were rexine type, the good thing is that it doesn't smell like fabric seats although they get a little hotter, but that is manageable in an AC bus. Not sure if all the seats had belts, was sitting in the front row.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by f1fan

Looks like Sharma is launching the Volvo 9400PX steered axle bus on the MUM-BLR route

Its not 9400PX but 9400XL with i shift.
9400PX is some 3 to 4 months away!