[SchumiFan]

Originally Posted by aroonanand

Has anyone tried the new EVACAY Scania AC seater service between Bangalore and Coimbatore? Has extremely good ratings on Redbus, seems to be a new operator with a brand new bus, and is offering mouth-watering fares of Rs. 600 even for weekends (30-50% cheaper than most other options)

Taking this operator on their Bangalore - Chennai service later this month. Will let you know about their service.

They don't operate a very exhausting schedule and hence can keep up time without much effort I think (don't run three shifts a day using the Scania to Chennai).

I agree on the cost. Not sure how they manage to do that. Asian Xpress' 10PM service is the closest at Rs. 760. SRM was less earlier but not anymore.

[sandeep959]

Hi everyone.

I am planning to travel, with family(3yr old kid) between Bangalore and Trivandrum in the first week of June. Trains are taking min 15hrs.

Any reliable bus operator suggestions please, preferably a sleeper coach, so that the kid is taken care of. Checked a few online, but not much of reviews.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by sandeep959

Hi everyone.

I am planning to travel, with family(3yr old kid) between Bangalore and Trivandrum in the first week of June. Trains are taking min 15hrs.

Any reliable bus operator suggestions please, preferably a sleeper coach, so that the kid is taken care of. Checked a few online, but not much of reviews.

Buses will take just as long. Strongly consider flying - the cost difference between a 1st AC train fare and a well discounted flight ticket from one of the portals / direct from the airline aren't much.

[sandeep959]

Originally Posted by hserus

Buses will take just as long. Strongly consider flying - the cost difference between a 1st AC train fare and a well discounted flight ticket from one of the portals / direct from the airline aren't much.

That did not strike me at all, lemme check the Airfares. Thanks a lot Bro.

[aroonanand]

Originally Posted by sandeep959

Hi everyone.

I am planning to travel, with family(3yr old kid) between Bangalore and Trivandrum in the first week of June. Trains are taking min 15hrs.

Any reliable bus operator suggestions please, preferably a sleeper coach, so that the kid is taken care of. Checked a few online, but not much of reviews.

Buses should do this distance in ~12 hours usually if you book a service that takes the Salem - Madurai - Tirunelveli - Nagercoil route. I used to travel frequently on this route couple of years back and would usually take KPN Volvos (have had bad experiences with SRS; SRM is ok but very rash driving and the sleeper which they had on this route was a worn-out old bus). I tend to avoid Kallada and other kerala based operators as they take the Coimbatore - Palakkad - Thrissur - Cochin route which is much longer and takes 2-3 hours more.

[treadmark]

Originally Posted by aroonanand

Has anyone tried the new EVACAY Scania AC seater service between Bangalore and Coimbatore? Has extremely good ratings on Redbus, seems to be a new operator with a brand new bus, and is offering mouth-watering fares of Rs. 600 even for weekends (30-50% cheaper than most other options)

Not Bangalore Coimbatore but traveled once from Chennai to Thrissur, the service was extremely good but the running time was almost an hour more than SRM / Kallada. Another downside was we had passengers to be dropped in Erode and Coimbatore. Also on my day of travel there was a commotion due to a double booking but then crew managed it swiftly.

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

Taking this operator on their Bangalore - Chennai service later this month. Will let you know about their service.

Traveled twice from Bangalore to Chennai and once from Chennai to Bangalore, all trips were punctual and event less. I would rate them to the likes of Parveen in this sector.

Cheers!

[TKMCE]

Originally Posted by hserus

Buses will take just as long. Strongly consider flying - the cost difference between a 1st AC train fare and a well discounted flight ticket from one of the portals / direct from the airline aren't much.

Totally agree with this. Forget 1st AC, you get air fares close to II A/C on this if you book early enough . Indigo is selling at Rs 1650 on some days during the first week of June for Bangalore Trivandrum, Spice Jet is only slightly higher while II A/c train is Rs 1645. Just before Air Deccan started flying in 2006 on Bangalore Trivandrum , the airfare on this sector was Rs 6500 oneway!

Please pay a little extra and travel in comfort.


And things are only going to get better as far as air fares are concerned. Indigo is purchasing 50 ATR - 72 (72-78 seat) aircraft so air fares to cities like Hubli or Tuticorin will in the next couple of years go down from current levels.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by aroonanand

I tend to avoid Kallada and other kerala based operators as they take the Coimbatore - Palakkad - Thrissur - Cochin route which is much longer and takes 2-3 hours more.

Just to clarify, not all Kallada buses go via Palakkad. They have equal number of services via Nagercoil and Palakkad.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by aroonanand

I used to travel frequently on this route couple of years back and would usually take KPN Volvos (have had bad experiences with SRS; SRM is ok but very rash driving and the sleeper which they had on this route was a worn-out old bus). I tend to avoid Kallada and other kerala based operators as they take the Coimbatore - Palakkad - Thrissur - Cochin route which is much longer and takes 2-3 hours more.

Strange you say that. From my experience, the KPN service to Trivandrum via Nagarcoil is the worst. They have long stopovers at the markets around Nagarcoil to unload goods and reach trivandrum much later than the buses which take the KL route. Not to mention, heart pounding music at the break of dawn to jostle everyone awake . At least this was the case when I used to travel.

Like others have mentioned, airfares in this sector have come down to a point that it makes no logical sense to take a bus or train. So it is either drive or fly for me these days.

[unk9ja]

Travelled from Bengaluru to Udupi in the KSRTC diamond class today. The bus arrived half an hour late than scheduled at 0830 hrs and was quick to get out. I got seat nr. 39, the one near the emergency exit. Bus was cleanly maintained. A bottle of water and a newspaper was given upon starting. Bus was sedately driven on entire journey. The bus reached Udupi exactly one hour late. The noise getting into the cabin is slightly higher than the Volvo. The bus pulls away seamlessly rather fast than Volvo but small amount of judders can be felt in the cabin. Overall a no nonsense journey.

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by unk9ja

A bottle of water and a newspaper was given upon starting.

A few months ago, KSRTC had stopped offering water bottles to passengers citing an increase in the cost of purchase. They had even announced a plan to set up their own drinking water plant .

Now, better sense seems to have prevailed. They have an agreement with MSIL for supply of 500ml water bottles at ₹4.30 each, effectively saving a princely sum of ₹32,000 per day.

A campaign of sorts is currently on to either replace the Times of India with a Kannada newspaper or atleast include one as an option.

Apparently, KSRTC gives away 29,000 mineral water bottles throughout the day in its Airavat, Flybus and A/C Sleeper buses all over Karnataka and in neighboring states and 4,621(?) copies of TOI in Bengaluru from 5-11 AM to commuters every day.

Source

Overall a no nonsense journey.

That's the hallmark of a bus journey that hasn't gone wrong. My experiences with KSRTC premium bus services have generally been good.

[unk9ja]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

A campaign of sorts is currently on to either replace the Times of India with a Kannada newspaper or atleast include one as an option.

There indeed is a local vernacular daily, Vijaya Karnataka given along with the TOI.

[dailydriver]

KSRTC has entered the Limca Book of Records as the most awarded (Government?) corporation in India. The New Indian Express reports:

KSRTC has so far received 165 international and national awards for its unique initiatives...

The Limca Book of Records editor Vijaya Ghose in the certificate said, "KSRTC is the first award-winning state transport corporation in the country, as of June 30, 2016. It received 107 international and national recognitions for unique initiatives and good practices... KSRTC is also the only such undertaking to have won the award of excellence by ministry of urban development, Government of India, a record six times in a row".

KSRTC is a pioneer for various initiatives like first AC Volvo bus, bio-fuel buses, intelligent transport system, buses with toilet and pantry, staff duty rota and leave management kiosk system, 'It's My Bus' campaign and city bus services.

From May 2013 to January 2017, in a span of 45 months, KSRTC received 102 national and international awards...

KSRTC has won National e-Governance Gold Award (except during the year 2009-10) since the inception of the award till date.

Link

Originally Posted by unk9ja

There indeed is a local vernacular daily, Vijaya Karnataka given along with the TOI.

Thanks for the update.

[unk9ja]

One more update for the day: Somehow missed picking up my camera bag from the bus yesterday. Called up the crew and informed about this. The driver politely asked for the details of the bag and confirmed it was with him and asked me to pick it up on the return journey.
Today morning I had to proceed to Bhatkal and went to the Kundapura bus stand. The driver requested for the details of the journey and only on double confirming, I was handed back the bag. This is indeed a very good approach employed without annoying the customer unlike some private operators. With such approach I don't see or get surprised by the accolades which are showered upon them.

[sbkumar]

Originally Posted by sandeep959

Hi everyone.

I am planning to travel, with family(3yr old kid) between Bangalore and Trivandrum in the first week of June. Trains are taking min 15hrs.

Any reliable bus operator suggestions please, preferably a sleeper coach, so that the kid is taken care of. Checked a few online, but not much of reviews.

Agree with others who have replied earlier. First option should be flight. If the difference is a lot, trains should be the second option IMO. I think buses take around 12 hours at least and having a kid happy that long in bus could be tricky. And please don't even think about KPN if bus remains the only option. Orange is probably the best on this route at the moment. Red bus rating is a good indicator generally.