[venki.bala]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

As per VRL website, the fare for Chennai-Surat is Rs. 2200 and the bus goes via Bangalore-Pune-Mumbai. I think its not a connection bus as the distance is ~1600 kms compared Bangalore-Ahmedabad which is around 1500kms and runs on single service

I am just curious. How many drivers will be on duty in these long trips? Will the bus be given enough break to start back for the return journey? Anybody who had done such long trips in these buses? I am pretty sure they will be able to fill Chen - Bangalore, BLR - BOM. Bom - Surat stretches.

[TKMCE]

A little OT, but very relevant . Please find the link from the Hindu on compensation limits imposed on Rail Accident Tribunals!!!

The Hindu : MISCELLANEOUS / OTHERS : Railway Claims Tribunal compensation inadequate

So God forbid, if you get into an accident on Indian Railways, you risk going bankrupt !!!!

Now I feel a little more reassured travelling by Inter City buses instead!!! Atleast the MACT rules apply.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by venki.bala

I am just curious. How many drivers will be on duty in these long trips? Will the bus be given enough break to start back for the return journey?

If we take Kallada Ernakulam-Bangalore-Ernakulam day/night service, there are only two drivers and the crew work continuously for 15 days day and night. The bus too run continuous day/night.

Let some experts confirm.

[TKMCE]

That way - MOST (not all) of the KeSRTC Volvos between Bengaluru and Chennai wlill have the most rested drivers!!

8 hours max end to end then a 14 hour break at Chennai and then back. But be aware some of these buses do a day trip Bangalore Chennai and return the same night after a few hours break. A few of them also do the Mysore Bangalore Chennai run and back!!!

Interestingly when I was in CMBT a couple of days back, a few of the Airavath conductors of KeSRTC (including some Multi Axle ones) were very aggressive in getting walk in passengers to board . Almost like what you see in private bus stands in Kerala. Either the staff motivation is exceptionally high or the extra incentive for filling up the bus is generous. Bothways, it is remarkable for a public sector undertaking!!!

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by TKMCE

Interestingly when I was in CMBT a couple of days back, a few of the Airavath conductors of KeSRTC (including some Multi Axle ones) were very aggressive in getting walk in passengers to board . Almost like what you see in private bus stands in Kerala. Either the staff motivation is exceptionally high or the extra incentive for filling up the bus is generous. Bothways, it is remarkable for a public sector undertaking!!!

I could see the same in buses running between Bangalore and Mysore, especially at Mysore suburban bus stand!! The conductors literally push you into a bus and even before you get in, they issue the tickets so that you don't go to a different bus then!

BTW, you meant KaSRTC I believe, not KeSrtc

[coolclouds]

Majestic Bus stand, someday in 199x....

(We walk to a parked KeSRTC bus (IIRC, to Palakkad) and ask the driver...)

"Sir, what time this bus will leave?"

Driver: "You ask Conductor"

We go to conductor and ask the same question..
"You come by 4 - 4.30"

"What time it will reach Palakkad?"

"Driver will tell"

(back to driver)

"Sir, what time it will reach Palakkad?"

"Its related to vehicle and traffic.. how can I tell the time?

(We couldn't ask more questions. We then move to TN bus area and a conductor is calling passengers for his Coimbatore bus)

(They call us to their bus on seeing our baggage)

Where do you want to go?

We: Ernakulam

TTC: Come in this bus

We: It will go only upto Coimbatore?

TTC:Yes, but we will get you connection bus to Ernakulam

We: Can we get seat in that?

TTC: We will get you...
(We get into the bus and as promissed, got a connection bus and seat)



Bangalore-Trivandrum KeSRTC Volvo, some day in 2009/10

At around 3.30 am, bus just crossed Palarivattam and nearing Kaloor stadium. Me, wife and two other passengers ask the driver to stop in front of International Stadium, Kaloor. Driver claims that the next stop is only at Kaloor bus stand. We tell him that KeSRTC is supposed to stop as per passenger request during night hours. but..

He stopped only at Kaloor Bus stand. We didn't get an auto so walk back to Stadium in the night. We call up KeSRTC control room cell number and the guy asked us to go there and give a written complaint.
(After this, I always tried to avoid KeSRTC Volvo)

Once I was in a TN Ultra deluxe bus which took one round and came back to Salem bus stand to fill a single seat during a weekend.

One KeSRTC driver once proudly said that they took huge risk and traveled through Mettur route with just six passengers. They were responsible if an accident happens at a different route.

I don't mean that all KeSRTC staff are bad. My neighbor, who was a conductor with Ernakulam-Bangalore A/c bus for long time say that they always try to pick maximum passengers on the way including short distances.

Generally, KeSRTC carry only those who come to their buses.


(Sorry for the long post)

[ike]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Majestic Bus stand, someday in 199x....

(We walk to a parked KeSRTC bus (IIRC, to Palakkad) and ask the driver...)

"Sir, what time this bus will leave?"

Driver: "You ask Conductor"

We go to conductor and ask the same question..
"You come by 4 - 4.30"

"What time it will reach Palakkad?"

"Driver will tell"

This has happened to all of us at some point in time. Even though the kesrtc staff attitude has changed, they are not comparable to kasrtc or setc staff when it comes to courtesy.

[autotranny]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Hello All!

Had traveled to Chennai on Friday evening by Kesineni's Volvo 9400.
Attachment 954077

I have a very strong feeling that this was the same bus in which I traveled to Kerala (June last year). Even at that point I think it was being used as a spare bus.

[TKMCE]

At one point I regularly used to travel KeSRTC (this time I do indeed mean Kerala SRTC). The 1930 Dep Trichur AC Globus and the 1800 Dep Thiruvalla Super Deluxe were my usual buses. At no point did I find any indifferent behavior.

Indeed I was travelling on the evening of the India Pakistan World Cup Semifinal at Mohali in 2011 on the Thrivualla Super Deluxe. When the bus reached Salem, news came through about India winning, the news was shared by the reserve driver with the conductor and those of us who were awake. Then for the next two hours there were quite a few youngsters , form various colleges on the route returning home to Kerala after watching the match and flagging down the bus on the highway. The crew was very co-operative, stopping at all the places till the bus filled up. That was a memorable journey!!!

As for KeSRTC Volvo, my understanding is that for premium services the management is very strict on the crew if you stop at places other than the designated stops. The "stop anywhere at passenger convenience during night hours" is an old directive and it would save everyone a lot of misunderstanding if they mention clearly that it is not applicable on their premium services. More than than 20 years back, the flagship service was the "Lightning Express" leaving TRV in the morning and Ernakulam at 5 PM (the bus was later extended to Trichur). I used to be a regular and despite upto 10-12 people waiting to get down at Ulloor (the point nearest Medical College), the crew were extremely reluctant to stop (the first stop was at Palayam) and once they did tell us that if some others complain the crew will be asked to give an explanation .

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by TKMCE

As for KeSRTC Volvo, my understanding is that for premium services the management is very strict on the crew if you stop at places other than the designated stops. The "stop anywhere at passenger convenience during night hours" is an old directive and it would save everyone a lot of misunderstanding if they mention clearly that it is not applicable on their premium services.

Actually, the directive is applicable only for Super Fast and above.All premium services fall in this bracket. The crew are supposed to stop the bus wherever requested by the passenger (to alight - not board) between 2100hrs and 0600hrs. You can file a complaint against the crew if they refuse to stop.

[TKMCE]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Actually, the directive is applicable only for Super Fast and above.All premium services fall in this bracket. The crew are supposed to stop the bus wherever requested by the passenger (to alight - not board) between 2100hrs and 0600hrs. You can file a complaint against the crew if they refuse to stop.

In my opinion it is high time that this directive should be amended to EXCLUDE all services from Express onwards.

Allow me to explain , having used KeSRTC services for more years than I would like to think!!!

This was first introduced when there were very limited services running in the night time - almost all these services were Super Fast or higher category services. Now the situation has changed, there are lots more FPs, LSFPs or Super Fasts available during night time .

If I am a Trivandrum bound Volvo passenger on KeSRTC, I would not like the bus to stop at 20-25 stops between Palghat and Kollam!!!!

This is not like Shama travels Ernakulam Multi Axle service not getting into Trichur town when it is supposed to. It is clearly mentioned in the website that the bus will go into the town and people who book to Ernakulam are aware of it. Ifthey have a problem with that , they book a Bharathi or a Viji Yatra which does not go into the town! But I would not like to pay premium charge on a not so premium KeSRTC Volvo to Trivandrum to have all these intermittent and unpredictable stops.

If need be , the rule can be amended to even include Premium services but within the last 30 km of the final desitnation.

Just a few idle thoughts!!! (And no offence meant against any one here).

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by venki.bala

Did you or other passengers oppose the move to drive without the Windshield? Yes it should have been too dangerous if the glass pieces could have flown in and caused some harm.

We had no choice but to continue the journey as the higher ups at Kesineni had no spare bus to accommodate all of us and since being a friday night the bus services are full so none of them opposed to continue the journey without the windshield.

Originally Posted by autotranny

I have a very strong feeling that this was the same bus in which I traveled to Kerala (June last year). Even at that point I think it was being used as a spare bus.

The condition of the bus exterior looked bad with scratches and dents all over whereas the interiors were decent.

[mazda4life]

quick trip update on our journey to/from Mumbai via KaSRTC:
- Onward: booked tickets via a agent since the website of KaSRTC payment gateway failed to process the transaction. Called the agent and was helped promptly. Boarded the bus from Majestic and the bus started on time ( 3:05 PM). Nice crew who were patient enough and methodically gave the water bottles and made some seat change requests.

Driver was pretty good and maintained good speeds throughout and quickly made it out of Bangalore. Stopped at Kamath Upachar and surprisingly the food was good and the place clean. Clean blankets were provided and guess I dozed off so did my wife and son.

Stopped at Pune for 5 mins for some passengers to alight and started off immediately, was awake up early to catch the vistas of the western ghats and the drive through the monsoon season. Was truly rewarded with some beautiful scenes and was surprised to see the amount of traffic at that time of the day. Got dropped off at Kharghar exactly at 6 : 15 AM and it had started raining ( coming from Phoenix it was just magical).Overall a wonderfully driven bus ride and a great crew.

Return: Wanted to book via VRL but home minister overruled and ended booking the same Airvat club class...it turned out to be a disaster to state the least. Couple of old dirvers and a young inexperienced conductor made the return journey a royal pain...didnt cross 60 kmph and even fully loaded lorries were overtaking at any given oppurtunity.

Our driver had a knack to choose the lane which moved the slowest in each of the toll gate and it was hugely frustrating. We did talk with the conductor who was least bothered to speed things up. Reached Pune at 9:30 ish after departing from Kharghar at 5:30 PM ...entered into Swargate and which was anything but 'Swarg', for some reason he parked the volvo in a dark spot next to a big puddle :(...reached Bangalore at 12:30 PM next day..our cup of woes were full at this point of time.

Overall a horrible experience when compared to the onward journey.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by TKMCE

This was first introduced when there were very limited services running in the night time - almost all these services were Super Fast or higher category services. Now the situation has changed, there are lots more FPs, LSFPs or Super Fasts available during night time .

I disagree with your point. The local connectivity is absolutely nil in many parts of Kerala - even in Palakkad/Thrissur districts. There is no choice for passengers who get off these long distance buses early in the morning. Take the example of Thrissur - there is not a single local bus from Mannuthy bypass to Thrissur town before 5:30AM (except the far and few long distance KeSRTC buses) - the price that rickshaws ask would put any premium taxi to shame.

On the other hand, the move of KeSRTC should be appreciated - and that goes a long way in helping passengers reach home at odd hours.

Originally Posted by TKMCE

If I am a Trivandrum bound Volvo passenger on KeSRTC, I would not like the bus to stop at 20-25 stops between Palghat and Kollam!!!!

A passenger would take not more than a minute (or two) to get off a bus. I disagree to the point that the long distance passenger should be prioritised by deserting other passengers mid way. Every operator this day stops on request to allow passengers to alight - even if there is no scheduled drop point there. As long as the passenger is not asking the service to be taken off the regular route, there is no reason why we should crib.

[ike]

Thrissur is a ghost town after 8. I have travelled by the tvm Volvo a couple of times. It is a big boon that it goes to tcr bus stand from where you might get another super fast to your final destination. Otherwise you have to blow atleast 250 bucks for an auto. Even if you don't get a bus, It's easier to be picked up from the bus stand than mannuthy.