[AlphaKilo]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

where is that switch provided?
I am not able to find out?

There are enough home work done and the buses can easily negotiate the ghats. Additionally Indian buses are'nt under powered anymore.
Climbing the hills requiring a shift to first gear is a problem of the application of that bus and not the problem of the bus.

The black box near the speedo console with a flip switch. Probably that is for horn? Visible in pic 1 and 3.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by AlphaKilo

The black box near the speedo console with a flip switch. Probably that is for horn? Visible in pic 1 and 3.

Its the cut out for electronic horn.

[binaiks]

Happened to travel by the newly launched Kallada Multi-Axle day service between Ernakulam and Bangalore yesterday.

The bus was KA-01-AA-7638. The bus had just 138xxkms on its odo. The bus was in shape - no scratches or patch works till date. A sticker near the driver seat claimed that the bus was serviced a couple of days back.

The bus reached Vyttila at around 0900AM from Bangalore. The cleaner went about cleaning the bus at a very brisk pace - used water bottles were thrown out, blankets were folded and put on every seat, seats were returned to their default position and curtains drawn. The drivers went for breakfast in the mean time. The scheduled departure for the bus is 0930 AM, but it was brought to the pick up point only around 0940 AM. Only 5 passengers were there from Vyttila - we started off at 1000 AM.

There were 2 drivers and one cleaner. The bus runs almost non-stop - the crew work continuously for three days and then get off. They work non-stop in reality - the bus starts off at 0930/1000 from EKM, reaches Bangalore around 9 PM, it returns again at 10 pm reaching EKM only by 0830~0900 AM! The cycle starts again!!!

We picked up passengers at Edappally Toll, Kalamassery and Mannuthy. We had a grand total of 9 passengers now!!!! We stopped at Hotel Aaryas, Chandranagar, Palakkad for Lunch. 2 more passengers joined.

The bus went into Coimbatore town - three pax got off and some 5 got in. It was past 3PM when we left Coimbatore. The Road was inexistent around Kuthiran Ghats (Mannuthy-Vadakkenchery section). We stopped for Tea near Bhavani at around 1645. We had a pick up at Salem (1800hrs).

Since it was just a day since the Truckers strike was called off, the Toppur ghat section was infested with trucks - 2-3 of them running parallel to each other competing to prove who was slower! The driver had to resort to a bit of offroading to ensure that we did not lose much time.

We were stopped by RTO guys near Dharmapuri Toll Gate - they charged some section (Rs. 200 fine). After that, the bus made a mis-calculated approach - and we got stuck in the toll gate! Stuck in such a position that driver could either break the Left ORVM or suffer a deep gash on the body on the right side!

Finally after many forwards and reverses, there was no solution. We had to pull out completely, and then enter the next lane - which was wider than the first one! Lost a good 30 mins in the exercise.

Finally, it was 2130 by the time we crossed Attibelle Toll. The bus took the BETL from Electronic City to Bommanahalli. I was finally dropped near Silk Board flyover at 2158. The bus terminates at Madiwala - and has to start back at 2200!!!

Poor crew - they get absolutely no rest. The service was average - the cleaner misbehaved with almost all passengers. He did not agree to keep the curtains open (the one between the driver and the passengers), he did not want to play movies, nor did he play music! He played one movie - which got over as we reached Coimbatore. We people asked him to play another one his reply was "I just played a movie.. will play one after Salem". (as if he was doing a favour for us).

Later a couple of passengers almost shouted at him, when he half mindedly searched for a DVD and played a movie.

Kallada's inexperience in running Day Service was showing up - they would improve in the days to come. They get enough parcels for the service to survive. They also got passengers at Coimbatore and Salem - so, they've done their homework well.

I came to know from the driver that Kallada has purchased 8 new Multi-Axle Volvos - this bus was one from that lot. This particular guy has been driving with Kallada since long it seems. The Cleaner was a new guy - and was very inexperienced. The second driver was very slow - he was scared of overtakes - he'd trail a slow moving vehicle when there is space for an overtake. Finally when the road gets busy, he'll start getting restless to overtake the slow vehicle!

The driver stopped at a small wayside tea stall for evening tea - Female passengers are the worst affected. The service requires a lot of fine-tuning, but I hope it survives. Its a nice alternative for people who love traveling over the day (like me).

Some pics attached. The last pic was taken when the bus got stuck at the toll gate.

[TheARUN]

Excellent report on the KALLADA Day Service. I think more Operators should go for a day route since it is much safer than driving in the night.

A Multi-axle with only a few handfull of passengers must have been eerie!

I think the main disadvantage of running a day service is that you get into trouble with the Police and RTO since they are awake and active only during day-time. Running in the night is almost bribe-free

The main problem with the VOLVO is that it has to be constantly kept on the road to recover the high running costs. If a manufacturer is offering a 1,50,000 kilometers or 18 months warranty, he expects the vehicle to be used for that period, meaning about 350 kilometers a day so that you arrive at 1,50,000 in 18 months. That's the best for the vehicles' health, here the guys will be getting out of warranty in a few months!

The speedo-meter shot was excellent. The VOLVO 9 Cylinder has tremendous torque and that is reflected in the green belt in the RPM meter which starts at 1,000 and ends at 1,500. Neat

[coolclouds]

The red color inside matching with the body color. Does Volvo offer interior color customization?

[AlphaKilo]

Saw this video of Merc review. People with telugu knowledge please translate it(most of it pretty understandable but it would be in the best interest of everyone)

MERCEDEZ BENZ BUS REVIEW - YouTube

Volvo I-Shift: look how smooth the vehicle picks up from zero: amazing, wish they bring it soon to india.

Volvo 9900 on B13R chassis (I-shift) - YouTube

[singleton]

Extremely Pathetic and disgusting service from one of the reputed Travels - KPN

We booked our tickets from Chennai to Ooty by KPN Travels. We boarded the semi sleeper a/c vehicle on 29th April from Chennai. The bus started at around 8.15 pm. The vehicle was travelling at sub 50 speeds for the next 2-3 hours. After travelling for around 3 hours, the driver just stopped the bus on the highway and claimed that the bus won't move since it encountered some "fan belt issue". He then took help from one of the passengers to call up the KPN office and get the repair done. It took another 3 hours for the KPN repair vehicle to come and service the bus. Till then we had to wait inside the bus on the side of the highway. Finally after a long wait, the repair guy came and worked on the bus for some time, claimed that the issue was solved and we resumed our journey. Another half an hour, the bus again broke down. Even though we tried to call up the customer service and the manager of KPN, those guys did not respond. The only answer we got it is “Be practical sir, it happens, and we can't help". There was no replacement bus sent to us. Finally in the morning, the bus driver again decided to take the same bus and we were dragging all along the way. We reached Avinashi by around next day afternoon and there one replacement bus came to pick us. Now comes the worst part. Even the replacement bus was out of breath and had serious issues that we couldn't climb the Ooty hills in that vehicle. After wasting for around 2 hours in that bus, finally we got down, took a taxi of our own and went to the KPN office in Ooty. The service shown to us was easily the most pathetic service from a company that has such a huge brand name. And the KPN office in Ooty did even a cleverer thing - The manager left the office by the time we reached there and made one small kid be in charge of the office till all the angry customers left.

I had paid 700 rupees per ticket for a 12 hour journey.
· The journey got extended to 24 hours; we travelled in a non-A/C bus in the hot summer for 1 full day!
· The customer service was pathetic and they have arrogant human beings sitting in their offices.
· No replacement bus, no proper service (not even an apology) by KPN.
· Their driver doesn't even carry a cell phone of his own in case he needs to contact the office for any emergency.


Extremely pathetic buses with an even worse customer care. Please avoid it if you have a choice.

P.S: The story is a bit old, but the issues with these travels still remains.

[pypkmsrikanth]

Originally Posted by singleton

Extremely Pathetic and disgusting service from one of the reputed Travels - KPN

I had paid 700 rupees per ticket for a 12 hour journey.
· The journey got extended to 24 hours; we travelled in a non-A/C bus in the hot summer for 1 full day!
· The customer service was pathetic and they have arrogant human beings sitting in their offices.
· No replacement bus, no proper service (not even an apology) by KPN.
· Their driver doesn't even carry a cell phone of his own in case he needs to contact the office for any emergency.


Extremely pathetic buses with an even worse customer care. Please avoid it if you have a choice.

P.S: The story is a bit old, but the issues with these travels still remains.

KPN has grown beyond any reasonable control, the buses are no more owned directly instead a lot of guys have leased these buses to KPN for a daily share of the collections. They are living on borrowed time with the brand and network created in the earlier days.

Incidentally the drivers do have mobiles but they do not use them exactly for the issues you mentioned, customers would force him to call up the HO for replacement bus / repairs etc in case of any issues on the way.

[jeepster]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

I think the main disadvantage of running a day service is that you get into trouble with the Police and RTO since they are awake and active only during day-time. Running in the night is almost bribe-free

do you think cops are Idiot's.

you (bus owner) have to pay the bribrs all the time.

its payed at every major check post on the route every month.

rgds,
Nikhil

[ranjithrnath]

Originally Posted by gold class

The bus become old now but the seats were comfortable.

Grey Hound introduced new bus yesterday. Painting looks good .The first service commenced yesterday from Ernakulam.

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Thats a good news.
I prefer this bus since it starts late, do not stop for dinner, skips Trichur etc. The ride quality was far better compared to some other operators though it was an old bus.

And here is the new Grey hound Bus. I spotted him after Thoppur [Dharmapuri] when my EKM BGLR Airavat stopped for Breakfast on Saturday Morning Aug 27 2011.
All buses were late by 6 hours since there was a heavy block at Walayar.

[coolclouds]

Thanks for sharing that pic. Looks like they can carry much more luggage than their old bus!

[silversteed]

A friend of mine and his fiance had come down to Bangalore from Hyderabad. They had booked return tickets in Omer Travels for a sunday 8pm Volvo service from Madiwala, that was supposed to drop them at Kondapur at 7am. On sunday evening at 6:30pm, he got a call from Omer travels, saying the bus had a breakdown and hence the service has been cancelled. They would accommodate them in another bus that would leave Majestic at 9:30pm. It was a Sahara Volvo.

They reached the designated boarding point on time, and were made to wait outside the bus till 10 o'clock. Then, the driver got in and turned on the engine (and AC), and they got in. The bus started moving at 11 o'clock.

They thought it's all over, and they can go to sleep. But there were a few unruly passengers, some of them drunk, who kept disturbing my friend and his fiance. One person even dared to put his legs over her seat's headrest. My friend initially told that person to behave properly, in a stern voice. But this made him really angry and complained to the bus crew, who were real clowns. A few other passengers also joined him and the attendant asked my friend to shift to another seat, the second to the last row from the back. That clown now said they'll throw out the drunk guy if he wants them to, but my friend didn't resort to that. After the ordeal, they reached Kondapur at around 9 o'clock.

When I enquired about Omer Travels with some agents in Madiwala, I got to know that Omer Travels' buses hardly ever come to Madiwala to pick up or drop passengers, and this breakdown story is also quite usual. However,

Any other operators that are best avoided? Any recommended operators in this route? I'm contemplating a Hyd trip soon, and would prefer to take a Merc multi-axle (just to check out the ride) to a regular Volvo.

[coolclouds]

I would suggest VRL/Kesineni/Diwakar etc on this route.

Edit: SRS also started an Isuzu service which should be a good option (though I never traveled on that)

[pypkmsrikanth]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

I would suggest VRL/Kesineni/Diwakar etc on this route.

Edit: SRS also started an Isuzu service which should be a good option (though I never traveled on that)

I would second VRL or Kesineni. You could also look at Bharathi or Sharma Multi axle as well. In my opinion the Isuzus' are not as comfortable as the Volvo / Merc.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by pypkmsrikanth

In my opinion the Isuzus' are not as comfortable as the Volvo / Merc.

That may be true but the operator (SRS) never let me down during my previous trips with them