[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by binaiks

They are charging Rs. 50~100 more than the regular services - but the difference depends on the day as well - one some days the rates are the same for B11R and B9R.

From their first run, it seems the bus is giving better mileage than the B9Rs - the iShift is really making a difference for the driver. For the operator, there is an almost 50% increase in luggage space (around 40% extra). I was in the first row, so not sure of the extra legspace, but heard someone saying that the legspace is increased - so many passengers may prefer this bus over the 9R.

If passengers feel, it has higher leg room then its ok, but I guess in reality there is no difference as the additional length of 800 mm will be completely taken by adding one row of seats.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Happened to travel from Trivandrum to Thrissur by Kallada Volvo B9R yesterday. The bus was via Mysore, Kozhikode

I'd rate the service a 4.5/5 - recommended.

I also had a good experience with kallada yesterday. Had to travel urgently to calicut and was able to get a seat on the 8:15pm multiaxle Volvo to ekm via calicut. Left from their office next to staples madivala at 8:30 , kalasipalayalam by 9.30 and reached calicut exactly as per the conveyed time - 6am. The bus was driven smoothly and at decent speeds. Generally a verycomfortable journey.
Had a question: what is the exact route this bus takes? Mysore - hosur- gonnikoppa - Kutta- manandavady- kalpetta- calicut? Want to keep track but fell into a deep sleep. I have heard the hunsur gonnikoppa Kutta stretch is very bad. But usage I hardly felt any bad stretches .

[satyaanveshi]

Originally Posted by TKMCE

the evening short distance trains like Vanchinad or Inter City terminate at Ernakulam.

The Intercity now runs up to Guruvayur and stops at Aluva too.

Originally Posted by TKMCE

Wanted to travel III tier AC on Kerala Express Aluva Trivandrum a train which comes from New Delhi. This train has no less than five III AC compartments (roughly 300 seats)

Trains like Kerala exp are really not meant for short distance passengers. There are other trains meant for that purpose, though I agree they fall way short of demand. Even so, if I were in your position and needed to take Kerala exp for an Aluva-Thiruvananthapuram journey with lots of luggage and without advance reservation, I would have taken a rick/cab to Ernakulam Jn and boarded the train from there. After all, Aluva is just a suburb of Ernakulam, barely 19 km away.

Kerala deserves more short distance trains for daytime journeys within the state, but the state govt also needs to cooperate in project execution. For example, land acquisition for doubling of the Ernakulam-Kottayam-Kayankulam line is taking forever.

In the meantime, I also agree that daytime bus travel within Kerala is a pain. The only solace is that it is not much of a joy in most other parts of the country either. Karnataka and (western) Maharashtra are exceptions to the norm.

[TKMCE]

Originally Posted by satyaanveshi

The Trains like Kerala exp are really not meant for short distance passengers. There are other trains meant for that purpose, though I agree they fall way short of demand. Even so, if I were in your position and needed to take Kerala exp for an Aluva-Thiruvananthapuram journey with lots of luggage and without advance reservation, I would have taken a rick/cab to Ernakulam Jn and boarded the train from there. After all, Aluva is just a suburb of Ernakulam, barely 19 km away.

Kerala .

In theory this is all fine, this taking the rick etc. In reality it is not practical with all the chaotic traffic and the highly poluted roads between Aluva and Ernakulam. If I take a cab, I end up paying nearly the III AC fare on the cab fare itself. Only solace is the JnURM volvos but they are not designed for people travelling with heavy luggage.

Also I agree the trains like Kerala Express are not meant for short distance pax when the train is going to Delhi. Not on the return when the train literally empties out by the time it reaches Trichur. And as I said earlier this train has 5 III A/C Coach alone. By the time it reached Trivandrum there were about 10 long distance pax and 5-6 local pax left my coach.


My issue here is only on the inability of Aluva station to issue me a III A/C unreserved ticket while Ernakulam has no issues doing the same . But at the same time Aluva has no issue in issuing Sleeper Class ticket for the same train, so the issue of "Reservation Coaches" does not arise.

If I stay in the III A/C Coach and waited for the TTE to turn up (he turned up after Ernakulam) and instead a ticket checking squad turns up, by the TTEs own admission, I get fined a big amount for not having a valid ticket!!! If I stay in the Sleeper Coach and wait for the TTE to turn up , yes I have a valid ticket but most likely the answer is "please go to the AC coach and see the TTE there". Talk about being caught between the devil and the deep sea. It is all fine when you are not travelling alone. If you are , then you are in a soup!
I dont know whether there is any other way around my predicament. Anyone familiar with IR rules and who can help with advice in such cases where I can still travel in train from Aluva itself in Kerala Express or Trivandrum Mail but without breaking nay rules, your suggestions most welcome.


By the way good to know about Intercity getting extended to Guruvayoor. Atleast it improves thing a lot in the return (Trivandrum Trichur) direction although it is a little too early for Trichur Trivandrum.

Not all short distance travel in other states is a pain. Delhi Chandigarh, Mumbai Pune, Bangalore Mysore or even Bangalore Chennai has a lot of comfortable alternatives by Volvos.

[satyaanveshi]

Originally Posted by TKMCE

Not all short distance travel in other states is a pain. Delhi Chandigarh, Mumbai Pune, Bangalore Mysore or even Bangalore Chennai has a lot of comfortable alternatives by Volvos.

I specifically mentioned Karnataka and (western) Maharashtra as exceptions to the norm. Delhi-Chandigarh is not bad, but not quite in the same league as Mumbai-Pune. Delhi's ISBT itself is pathetic.

Bangalore-Chennai is very good, but credit goes to KaSRTC (and private operators who followed suit) for the Volvos. The TN govt transport companies haven't cared to introduce long-distance Volvos. They do run Volvos on some routes like Chennai-Trichy, but these are low-floor city buses!

KeSRTC is nowhere near as well managed as KaSRTC/APSRTC/MSRTC. On top of it, KeSRTC has for long had a monopoly (no private operators allowed) over long-distance bus transport in Kerala (for example, T'puram-Ernakulam via NH47). I suppose the monopoly still continues on such routes, which unfortunately are the ones where Volvos are viable.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

If passengers feel, it has higher leg room then its ok, but I guess in reality there is no difference as the additional length of 800 mm will be completely taken by adding one row of seats.

It is indeed a "feeling". I traveled yesterday night by the bus again, in a seat towards the rear portion of the bus. The leg space is more or less similar to that of the B9R.

[sai_ace]

Hi all,

Wanted to recount by last bus travel from Bangalore to CBE. This was for a journey on 16 - Wed Night. The bus was National Travels - 2+1 non ac coach and ticket price was Rs378 (-50 thanks to "goibibo hain na" )

I boarded the bus at Madiwala at 11:40PM. The bus has a weird pickup route. Marathalli-Indiranagar(9.20pm)-Kalasipalayam-Majestic-Madiwala.

I have boarded this particular bus number of times from CBE to Bangalore, where the seats are shared with CITY Travels CBE.

I particularly like this bus for the following reasons

-2+1 config makes it very very comfortable -more than any 2+2, volvo included.
-The bus is very clean inside in spite of white sheets on the headrests
-Well maintained with and no rattling, a very smooth AshLey
-Very sedate driving and no high speeds stunts.
-Of probably 30 odd trips I have made on this bus, only two instances where the bus arrived for pickup more than 30 mins late but we still managed to reach on time.


I would recommend this bus for anybody looking at a neat non ac option between blr and cbe. Please note they dont provide water or sheets.

cheers!
sai

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by sai_ace

Hi all,

Wanted to recount by last bus travel from Bangalore to CBE. This was for a journey on 16 - Wed Night. The bus was National Travels - 2+1 non ac coach and ticket price was Rs378 (-50 thanks to "goibibo hain na" )

cheers!
sai

Thanks for the info. Are they going via Salem or Mettur route?

[sai_ace]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Thanks for the info. Are they going via Salem or Mettur route?

Hi,

you're welcome. These guys go via the the Salem route- They stick to the 4 lane roads throughout.

[Rajeevraj]

Had a question. Are there any Volvo/AC Sleeper services between Bangalore and Calicut apart from Kallada and KaSRTC? I dont see anything else online.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Had a question. Are there any Volvo/AC Sleeper services between Bangalore and Calicut apart from Kallada and KaSRTC? I dont see anything else online.

There was one Volvo B7R of Golden Travels to Calicut, via Virajpet, Iritty, Thalassery, Vadakara. There was one Isuzu of PK Travels as well, following the same route. Not sure if either are running. There are no AC-Sleepers in the route.

[coolclouds]

S.Kallada: Bangalore - Coimbatore (Ernakulam day service) 23rd Jan 2012

Had an urgent travel to Coimbatore yesterday. Kallada website showed some 33 seats available at 7.00 am and booked seat nos A1 and A2 online (@ Rs. 600 each), just behind the driver. I couldn't take a printout of ticket nor show an email as I had to pickup my niece from her college hostel. Just noted down the seat/ticket number.

Reached Kallada's office at 8:35 am, (little early, to arrange a paper ticket, if asked) and told the seat numbers. To my surprise, the guy didn't ask anything, just gave me a ticket printout and asked to wait. There was an orange colored bus parked outside and staff taking rest.

At 8:55am, they informed us to board the bus. It was Kallada B18 (KA01 AA 7639). The same guy collected ticket and issued boarding pass. In the meantime, Mr. Go*** a traffic inspector, came to the bus and on seeing him, our driver went outside and paid him a Rs. 100 note without saying a word. The inspector was happy with his first pay for the day!

The bus had about 16 passengers and started moving at 9:12am. Went through Madiwala market and after all traffic, entered BETL at 929am.

It did very comfortable speeds.

BETL: 9:29
Bommasandra: 9:40 am (one pickup)
Attibelle toll: 9:50 am (Three minutes for some parcel loading)
Krishnagiri:10:50 am
Dharmapuri: one passenger drop
Thoppur: 11:40 am
Omallur: 12:12 pm
Salem: 12:20 pm (passenger drop and pickup)
Lunch at Saravana Bhavan: 12:50 pm to 01:15 pm
Chithode & Perundurai (passenger drop & pickup)
Chengampalli toll: 02:06 pm
Avinashi (passenger pickup/drop)
Coimbatore L&T pickup/drop: 03:10 pm

Pros: Very decent speeds, no unwanted breaks, light honking, good place for lunch, movie/music at light volume, excellent staff, especially, cleaner.

It took about 5 hours 40 minutes including a 25 minutes lunch break for the trip which is very reasonable. All pickups/drops were very quick as they coordinated with the agents in advance. They made it little slow from Avniashi as the pickup from Coimbatore city was doing late else it would have reached by 3pm.

They stopped at Saravana Bhavan for the first time yesterday. He got a call from office after some time asking him why he didn't stop at Aaryas for lunch. As per the driver, the service at Aaryas was very late and passengers didn't had food even after one hour on previous day. But the office guy wanted the bus to be stopped at Aaryas itself.
Later the driver and cleaner were discussing that this guy is getting his share from hotel!

Both driver and cleaner were very polite and helpful. The cleaner Mr. Ramesh (or Mahesh) was very helpful and proactive.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Reached Kallada's office at 8:35 am, (little early, to arrange a paper ticket, if asked) and told the seat numbers. To my surprise, the guy didn't ask anything, just gave me a ticket printout and asked to wait.

I am shocked! Two weeks back when I traveled by their B11R (on the inaugural trip), I had seen their staff happily accepting m-Tickets. Looks like the operator is changing for good

Both my recent experiences with them were really good.

Originally Posted by coolclouds

It took about 5 hours 40 minutes including a 25 minutes lunch break for the trip which is very reasonable. All pickups/drops were very quick as they coordinated with the agents in advance. They made it little slow from Avniashi as the pickup from Coimbatore city was doing late else it would have reached by 3pm.

These days, they are calling up their wayside agents/offices in advance and informing about the current location of the bus. On Sunday, I had to take their B11R from Aluva to Bangalore - the guy in the office told me confidently that the bus would come in at 9pm, and it came in at 8.58pm itself! Some positive signs from Kallada.

Edit:

Originally Posted by coolclouds

They stopped at Saravana Bhavan for the first time yesterday. He got a call from office after some time asking him why he didn't stop at Aaryas for lunch. As per the driver, the service at Aaryas was very late and passengers didn't had food even after one hour on previous day. But the office guy wanted the bus to be stopped at Aaryas itself.

Aaryas has a very lousy service - quality of food too has deteriorated. The last time I went there, the place was all dirty as well. Kallada has a booking point there, so probably a time-keeping point as well.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by binaiks

These days, they are calling up their wayside agents/offices in advance and informing about the current location of the bus.....

Aaryas has a very lousy service - quality of food too has deteriorated. The last time I went there, the place was all dirty as well. Kallada has a booking point there, so probably a time-keeping point as well.

True. Operators can make few calls in order to arrange for a quick pickup and save time than increasing fuel bills by driving at 120+ to save time lost.

The office guy was forcing on boarding point at Aaryas but the driver tried to convince him that Kallada can shift boarding point to Perundurai diesel station or even pickup passengers from same hotel itself.

Anyways, I was happy with Saravana Bhavan as its my meal point during drives.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

The office guy was forcing on boarding point at Aaryas but the driver tried to convince him that Kallada can shift boarding point to Perundurai diesel station or even pickup passengers from same hotel itself.

Forgot to ask, Did the bus go in to the fuel station at Perundurai?