[TKMCE]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Some bad news for TKMCE. The new amendments to Kerala Motor Vehicle Rules 1989 now make it mandatory for drivers to stop the buses (Luxury/ Super Classes - Super Fast, Super Express, Super Deluxe - and above) at any place requested by passengers (to alight only) between 10PM and 6AM!!

Thanks - I had long ago stopped travelling with KeSRTC on their premium services since I found that KaSRTC has no such rule or their MVD has any plans for any such amendments. I usually get down at Angamaly and take a non premium ordinary service to my local bus stop. Plus I dont have to worry about booking a TRV BLR ticket and travelling half way on Low Floor and half way on High floor and get to hear the explanation - Sir you travelled Volvo all the way!!!!


Start getting your act right KeSRTC. You issue such idiotic directives but still wont let your premium buses get inside Aluva Bus station even if is a Trivandrum Irinjalakuda Super Fast with 5 people inside at 9 PM in the night and where you could have got another 20 people if you went inside the bus station never mind the fact that 3 of the 5 people remaning in the bus and destined for Aluva are travelling all the way from Trivandrum!!!


One more joke of the same corporation KERALA SRTC......... Unbelievable until you experience it.

At the Kochi airport at 4 PM. Two buses in the bus bay - a Low Floor Volvo - going all the way to Ernakulam, - Departure time 4.25 PM. b An ORDINARY LS going to Cherthala -Departure 4.30 PM.

The Cherthala bus decided to leave at 4.15 PM, so got off from the Volvo only to find.......

Sir this bus is ordinary but it is a LS , so it will not stop at Desom !!!

As for the Volvo - the TOP of the line service - No problems sir - we charge only 15 Rs and has a stop at Desom!!!


End result - I had to get down at the highway and change buses !!!!


Same problem you will face if you try to board a bus from the stop in front of Gold Souk Mall just after Vytilla towards Aluva.


No LS Ordinarly buses stop there - all Volvo buses stop!!!

And both these stops I am mentioning are major ones - Gold Souk Mall is now increasingly popular and Desom is the turn off for Kanjoor and Kalady from the Highway (less said about direct buses to Kalady from the airport the better).


Get such acts right first before you waste your time making idiotic meaningless amendment KeSRTC. Without any of these amendments KaSRTC is making a killing on the Kerala routes and despite not able to be dropped at your door step lot of people still prefer them - including me.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by TKMCE

No LS Ordinarly buses stop there - all Volvo buses stop!!!

AFAIK, all Ernakulam city Volvo buses stops everywhere (even where there is no stop) since its a local service and their total running may be just around 50 kms/trip.

[ranjithrnath]

Originally Posted by ramzsys

A quick trip to Tirupati and back.this may be of some interest to you:this bus was doing Tirupati-Trichanoor shuttle.

unbelievable, a KNR registrationn shutter bus running as stage carriage in AP

[ranjithrnath]

Originally Posted by aroonanand

Dint know that such private buses existed which did long distance routes on a Super fast / Deluxe permit. Can you throw some light on the routes and names of such buses.

Shajees MUNDAKKAYAM-KONNAKKAD SUPER EXPRESS

pair bus


Holy Family MUNDAKKAYAM-KONNAKKAD SUPER EXPRESS

pair bus

SS Deluxe KOTTAYAM-VELLARIKKUND-(Panathur) S.EXP

pair bus

[ranjithrnath]

More malabar night services
Peters KOTTAYAM-PANJIKkAL S.EXP Ac

PAIR BUS

Peters KOTTAYAM-PANATHOOR S.EXP

pair bus

HOLY CHILD KOTTAYAM-MANANTHAVADY LS

Pair bus by SONIA

[ranjithrnath]

MALABAR NIGHT SERVICES AGAIN
SONIA KOTTAYAM-PERIKKALLOOR S.EXP

pair bus by CHERIYANS

Cheriyans KOTTAYAM-AMBAYATHODE S.EXP

pair bus by SONIA

[venki.bala]

Travelled from Trichy to hyderabad by Kesineni Volvo VL197 on Thursday. the bus was supposed to start from Trichy Busstand at 4.15 pm, the bus acutually starts from Thanjavur and the bus reached trichy only at 5 PM. there were about 20 passengers in the bus already and we were about 10 PAX boarded the bus at trichy. The bus was an old one with about 3 lac kms and side glass panes were cracked. The bus started in 5 mins and took the by pass towards Ulunduerpet. The Driver was wery good, maintained high speeds from the word go but never showed any aggresiveness. reached thruvannamalai at 7.15 pm. Being a pournami day T.Malai was crowded with people and buses and driver struggled to get out of the town and T.Malai to vellore road was looking like a peak hour Mountroad, such was the density of the traffic, reached Vellore at 9.45 pm, here again few more pax got in. Then we stopped for Dinner on IOC Nandi restaurant on the chittor road for 30 mins and Bus resumed the journey at 11 pm towards Kadiri. After that second driver took over, he was even better than the first one, no sudden jerks, brakes. Reached Jadcherla by 7 am and dropped me at Nizampet road by 8.45 am. When asked the driver commented that their standard time is 7.30 am at Nizampet and due to the traffic jam at Tanjore - trichy road and Vellore they were delayed. I thanked drivers for such a comfortable drive and they said they will getting a brand new bus in 3 weeks time and it will be even better.

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by ranjithrnath

unbelievable, a KNR registrationn shutter bus running as stage carriage in AP

I remember the news article in Kairali TV, some time back, about buses with KL registration and malayalam destination boards running in remote places of UP. According to this report, the buses that are captured from Kerala (especially Kochi area) for non payment of loans are shipped to remote places in North India and they run these buses with out re-registering there( i.e. just by bribing the officials). There is a lobby in Kerala for this bus smuggling.

[pranav_mankad]

I took the sleeper AC KaSRTC bus from Ernakulam to Bangalore last week.
Here are the important points :

• Exterior : The bus was a CORONA A.C. bus. ( Rear Engined ).
• Interior: Was decent. There was no LCD/Audio stuff but the berths were broad enough. Seperate A.C. Vents and LED lamps were provided on each berth. Bus was well maintained and clean.
• Value Adds: A small bottle of water, a clean blanket and a small pillow was provided.
• Driving : There were two drivers on board. Each drove for roughly half of the journey. Overall, driving was very safe, steady and without any rough Maneuver. We never had a 'oh my god!' moment. A very typical KaSRTC experience of safe driving ( earlier I had similar experience with KaSRTC Airawat Volvos)
• Staff : Drivers were well dressed ( in white uniform ) and were well behaved. They could communicate in English and Hindi.
• Schedule : Was not kept ! The bus started 5 minutes late. However, by the time we reached to Madiwala, it was already 7.15 in the morning. Its scheduled time is at around 5.00 a.m. Hence, we were delayed by around 2.15 hours.
• Food Breaks : We had couple of food breaks. First one after around 2 hours from start. It was a decent looking place. Second one was at around 6 in the morning ( Some where near Krishnagiri ). This one was not as decent and was more like 'dhaba'. However, it did serve good tea/coffee.
• Alert! : Last berths of this bus are pathetic! You will get suffocated and would feel claustrophobic. Also they tend to get slightly heated due to the engine. Please avoid them at all cost.

Overall, I was satisfied with the experience. I would have loved to be on time but the comfort and the safe driving more than made it up for me.

[binaiks]

Quick review of Kallada G4: Bangalore (Madiwala) to Thrissur by BGLR-Changanassery B9R on September 01, 2012.

The ticket was booked by calling up Kallada G4's Kalasipalayam office. On the day of journey, I got a call from the office to confirm my journey, and they read the seat number, reporting time and location again. The person offered me accomodation in an earlier bus (now all the buses go through Thrissur town, since they take the Ottapalam route now) - I politely declined since the earlier buses would mean a longer waiting time for me at Thrissur for a bus to my hometown.

Reached Madiwala at 2045 - the guys at Friends politely asked me to come at 2115, since the guy who issues boarding pass was checking tickets in the Trivandrum bus. I headed out - exchanged HIs with the crew of the Trivandrum bus and with someother guys I know in Madiwala. I went back to Friends Travels at 2115.



Boarding pass was issued, and I paid for the ticket. I noticed that the bus had some 17-18 bookings to Thrissur itself! The bus came in at 2130hrs - boarding started immediately. The bus was KA-01-AA-7734 - the red bus from the first lot. The coach attendant helped passengers with their luggage. My seat was #9. The bus started at 2145 sharp - but we were stopped by the ticket checker since one passenger was still to board. The bus started at 2151, went to St. Johns signal, took a U-turn and parked opposite to Friends again, for some time. We then started off again, and stopped outside Madiwala police station. The wait continued till 2215hrs.

We took the BETL route to Electronic City - the elusive passenger boarded here. We left from E-city at 2227. The driver was well behaved - no honking, no rash driving. He overtook using the correct gaps. They played a recent movie in the bus - the movie went on till about 0030hrs. The crew, as usual, did not bother switching off the TV after the movie got over. The movie even re-played! They switched off the TV when the bus stopped for a Break (near Thoppur toll gate). I slept well after this. I woke up only when the bus reached Walayar (at 0411hrs). We took a 10 minute break here. Left Walayar at 0421hrs. Stopped at Palakkad to drop some passengers (0442 hrs). Then took the Ottapalam-Shoranur-Wadakkanchery route. Bus reached Thrissur dot at 0600hrs (30 minutes late - but acceptable due to longer route and heavy traffic).

Kallada G4 is doing really great with their services - I was really happy to hear that all the services out of Bangalore now has very good loads, and often gets sold out before some "preferred" operators on the route. I did not check the speed any time - but the driver was surely doing decent speeds, without being rash. G4 is surely on my preferred list. Maintenance of this bus was awesome - with 2.5lakh kms on the odo, it still did not have an unusual noises, no broken fittings or non-working lights. I had traveled in the very same bus, on the same day last year. (The first journey was on September 01, 2011) The bus was in the same condition as it was in 2011!!!!

[mash]

KSRTC is launching on trail Volvo 9400PX(may be) on 4th September

Source: KSRTC FB page

[binaiks]

Quick Review on my journey by Hindusthan Travels - Coimbatore to Bangalore, on September 03, 2012.

Bus: KA-01-AB-2652.
Pick up point: Hindusthan Travels, Nava India, Avinashi Road, Coimbatore
Scheduled Dep time: 2300hrs
Actual Dep Time: 2258hrs
Total Passengers: 42 (Capacity: 44)
Scheduled Arrival Time: 0600hrs
Actual Arrival Time 0436hrs (Silk Board)

I reached their Nava India office at 2225hrs - there is an airconditioned waiting lounge, with complementary Wi-Fi. They have fairly average (I wouldn't call it "good" or "excellent" though) Toilet Complex, a bit away from the waiting area. The waiting area is at the entrance of their compound while the toilet complex is at the other end. When I reached there, their Chennai bus (Second service) was about to depart. There was a TV in the waiting area, where they were playing some TV Channel (IIRC, it was KTV).


The waiting lounge

The bus came in at 2245hrs (it goes for a pick up from Omni BS). Some 25~30 passengers got in at Nava India - a checker stood near the door and checked tickets as passengers got in. The interiors were fresh and clean - no foul smell, no fragrance either. The AC was already running, and they were playing some FM station.

Bus Started at 2258hrs (since all passengers booked from Nava India were on board). We stopped at Hope College for pickup at 2301hrs. Some more passengers got in here - then settling of accounts and some other stuff happened, and the bus started off at 2307hrs - with 42 passengers on board. The seating layout in Hindusthan is ditto of KPN - seats 43 and 44 are in the first row, and the last row is a berth for the spare driver.


The bus

Blankets were distributed after the bus left from Hope College. 500ml water bottles were also provided (IMHO, it is not necessary for such a short trip). The driver was quick, but in very good control. Minimal use of horn and no rash driving. I slept soon after we crossed Chengampalli toll gate. Had a fairly good sleep - except for the nuisance of the attender switching on the cabin lights whenever the bus stopped! They stopped for a break some around 1~2am (not sure where we stopped, or what time it was). The attender switched on the lights and shouted break - no body got off.

I woke up at around 0400hrs, when the attender shouted "Hosur" and switched on the lights! Not sure if anybody got off, since I almost immediately resumed sleep. I got up at 0425hrs when the attender once again switched on the lights and shouted "Electronic City". A few pax got off and we left at 0427. I was dropped at Silk Board at 0436hrs - a full 1hr and 24 minutes early!

I believe this was my fastest Coimbatore-Bangalore journey - 5hrs 38 minutes including breaks. I really liked the service (of course, except the attender switching on the lights every now and then) - its a short journey, and I could not fathom the need to have a break! Hindusthan certainly has its share of regular passengers now - with more buses on order, I am sure they would make a market for themselves.

[ramzsys]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Hindusthan certainly has its share of regular passengers now - with more buses on order, I am sure they would make a market for themselves.

In all my trips in the Hindusthan, i found that there's lot of young woman when compared to KPN.

Did they get the shawl at Electronic city itself?

[ArunV]

Completed a round trip from Bangalore to Perumbavoor and back. The onward journey was in a SPS volvo multi axle and return on SPS semi-sleeper Non AC.

Onward Journey
The departure time was 8:45pm from Madiwala. The bus reached madiwala at 8:30 itself and around 15 passengers joined the bus. There were 1 or 2 passengers who bought the ticket just before and the bus started at 8:50pm, 5 min delay.
The person at the SPS counter was handling everyone with a smile on his face and the driver and the cleaner was also friendly.
There was one pick up at Electonic city and and 2 more at Narayana Hridayalaya. The bus didnt stop for dinner and that was informed at the time of issuing boarding pass also.

The bus picked up speed once it crossed hosur and the driver was rash. He was honking continously and cutting lanes at high speeds. I slept of by 10:30pm and then when i got up it was not on the 4 lane highway. Seems they took the Mettur route to save on toll and distance. The driver was ripping past and it was ripping past all the gutters. I couldn't sleep much of the time. Twice i could hear the lorry drivers shouting at our driver as he was trying to overtake even when the lorry was coming from other side. he didnt care for the gutters in Palakkad and Thrissur as well.
He covered the distance from Angamali to perumbavoor in flat 16 mins. The whole trip took 9hrs & 10 mins.

I didnt feel it comfortable as the driver was pretty rash. The good thing were the new bus, the friendly staff.

Return Journey
Had booked the Non-AC semi sleeper bus from Perumbavoor.It was schediuled at 7pm, but the bus came 10 mins after the scheduled departure time. Cannot blame them as it was raining heavily. The Driver and the cleaner were arrogant from the beginning.
I got seat number 36, the first single seat.
They stopped for food at angamaly and the crew came back after 40mins. All the passengers were in the bus much before that. They were taking their own time for everything and they stopped at many places in the night for reasons unknown.
Finally dropped me at Silkboard at 7am. Almost 12 hrs for a distance of 530 Kms.
I am regular traveller by atlas sharma and they take much less time than this.

Thumps down for SPS this time. I think my next trip will be by Kallada G4. Saw 2 new Multiaxle vovlos on the way.

[TKMCE]

Bangalore Angamaly- KaSRTC Rajahamsa 1830

Not my usual choice but was the only one available on a Friday evening although booked a full two weeks out. And that too the centre seat in the last row.

Surprisgly the bus was very comfortable. The old buses on this schedule has been phased out and a new one (with body by Veera) has been introduced. And even more surprisingly the driver had every intention of keeping time and reached Coimbatore at 2.30 AM - where quite a few people got off and I could move to a forward seat and Palghat at 4 AM. Near Vaniyambara shortly afterwards there was a MASSIVE traffic jam du eto some lorry brekaing dowen and every vehicle was stuck for about 90 min. Even then reached Angamaly at 7 .30 and took a local KeSRTC back home (since KaSRTC does not have an " I will drop you at your door step" policy- whatever the time of the the night or day).

Overall highly recommended and at 518 Rs one way this is the cheapest deal around.

Return was on SPS travels Non AC. Again no choice as I was booking at the last minute and all buses were full on the Monday after the long Onam break. Bus reached Aluva at 8.10 PM against the promised 7.45 then got delayed by a further 40 minites due to the utter selfishness of a young brat who wanted at all costs to travel with his two girl friends. The girls had the confirmed reservation on the bus , the brat had a reservation on Sharma NON AC followign after an hour. The brat was going around requesting every passenger to shift to Sharma giving some sob story about helpless girls having to travel alone or what not. Finally the agent who booked his ticket persuaded some guy to swap reservations (dont know whether the agent was paid off for the trouble). End result the bus left Aluva at 8.50 PM delayed by mroe than an hour. Further delayed for 40 min at Walayar and then about an hour from Coimbatore there were two further breaks in quick succession for about 20 min each. End result , reached Hosur at 7 AM and Madivala at 7.30 (took the elevated road).

To be avoided at all costs. Only good thing is the bus has only 36 seats and the leg room is very good . Also the bus does not touch Trichur town. Yeah and the best thing was they played a Kannada movie - with hardly a single Kannadiga on board!!!