[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

Where is this 'Parle G' toll?

The NBTL toll soon after Peenya towards Tumkur is popularly referred to as "Parle G" toll as the biscuit factory is very next to it.

Location.

If one regularly takes NICE to enter Tumkur road, they usually don't cross this toll and hence are unaware.

Also, this is a very good place to board your bus heading towards most destinations in North KA and MH as well as Mangalore side.

As per KSRTC App, Dream Class service is only for Pune route. For Mumbai it's the usual Club Class service.

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

The NBTL toll soon after Peenya towards Tumkur is popularly referred to as "Parle G" toll as the biscuit factory is very next to it.
As per KSRTC App, Dream Class service is only for Pune route. For Mumbai it's the usual Club Class service.

Thanks Parag!
My sis, who traveled to Mumbai on 19th had to shell out 3K for VRL Volvo Sleeper! The prices were almost 2X the regular fare.

As such was looking for alternatives for her frequent travels between Mumbai <> B'lore.

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

Does this bus travel upto Mumbai?
Also, what's the pricing?

KSRTC inducted a handful of Ambaari Dream Class Volvo multiaxle sleepers into their fleet recently but many more will join soon. Bangalore--Mumbai is slated to be launched shortly. The Bangalore--Pune Dream class service is in addition to the Corona AC sleeper on the same route.

[padmrajravi]

I frequently do Bangalore Calicut trips and was using the Kallada Sleeper bus till their infamous manhandling incident a while back. After that switched to another one called PK travels. They have introduced new sleeper buses with Prakash Capella body on the Ashok Leyland 12 M chassis. Instead of playing movies through individual LED TVs , these buses now have an app based streaming service called Touring Talkies. Punctuality is not one of their virtue with lot of delays and a fuel filling stop after boarding passengers , but with me not wanting give my money to Kallada , there are very few alternatives.

[aroonanand]

Did a Bangalore - Coimbatore trip and tried a new operator "Dwaraka Travels" for the onward leg.

Their bus starts at Majestic and reaches Madiwala through Mekhri Circle - Hebbal - Banaswadi - KR Puram - Marthahalli - Bellandur, providing a number of pick up points. The crew was friendly and polite in attending phone calls about pick up location etc. Live tracking on Yourbus also helped in knowing exactly where the bus was.

The bus is a very new Bharat Benz AC Sleeper built by MG Coaches (recall seeing images of MG Built AC Sleepers on T-BHP in end 2018 which looked far superior to the other AC sleepers in use) and the bus was indeed very similar to the images posted. Build quality and interiors were several notches better than the Prakash / Veera built AC Sleepers that are used by most operators. No hard metal parts or edges anywhere inside, ladders / handles are all soft-touch plastic and entire lighting was "warm-white" LED.. Material on the roof, sides of berth were also soft-touch. Very pleasant change from the other sleeper buses. Clean blanket, pillow, water bottle and a small snack box (Frooti tetrapak, mixture from A2B and Goodday biscuit included) was kept on every berth.

However the NVH levels were very poor and one could hear the engine noise very loudly inside the cabin. For comparison, i did a return trip by VHB Travels AC Sleeper (which is an Ashok Leyland 12M chassis built by Prakash) and this cabin was a lot more silent.

The bus did decent time, departed from Madiwala around 2315 and was dropped off at Gandhipuram in Coimbatore by 0545 AM.

Interestingly, this operator does a straight run from Madiwala thru Lalbagh to Majestic on the return leg and doesnt provide drop points on ORR

Definitely would recommend Dwaraka travels for this sector.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by padmrajravi

I frequently do Bangalore Calicut trips and was using the Kallada Sleeper bus till their infamous manhandling incident a while back. After that switched to another one called PK travels. They have introduced new sleeper buses with Prakash Capella body on the Ashok Leyland 12 M chassis. Instead of playing movies through individual LED TVs , these buses now have an app based streaming service called Touring Talkies. Punctuality is not one of their virtue with lot of delays and a fuel filling stop after boarding passengers , but with me not wanting give my money to Kallada , there are very few alternatives.

Surprising to know that PK Travels still operates. SKS, PK and couple more were the bus companies that plied on the Bangalore to Calicut route during the 80's and 90's until the Volvo's came.
I don't think SKS operates anymore apart from local routes. PK travels were one of the first to get the new design of buses from SUTLEJ in which the passenger sits high up and the windows were small compared to the older designs back then.

[padmrajravi]

Originally Posted by tharian

Surprising to know that PK Travels still operates. SKS, PK and couple more were the bus companies that plied on the Bangalore to Calicut route during the 80's and 90's until the Volvo's came.
I don't think SKS operates anymore apart from local routes. PK travels were one of the first to get the new design of buses from SUTLEJ in which the passenger sits high up and the windows were small compared to the older designs back then.

Yes , PK travels started operations in the late 80s and they are very much there . They have an all AL 12 M fleet with Prakash body . Unfortunately they carry a lot of parcels and ends up making the passengers wait. The sleeper service leaves Bangalore at around 9 15 PM and reaches Calicut by 6 30 AM taking the Thalassery , Vadakara route.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by tharian

Surprising to know that PK Travels still operates. SKS, PK and couple more were the bus companies that plied on the Bangalore to Calicut route during the 80's and 90's until the Volvo's came.
I don't think SKS operates anymore apart from local routes. PK travels were one of the first to get the new design of buses from SUTLEJ in which the passenger sits high up and the windows were small compared to the older designs back then.

PK and SKS were the only ones operating in the Tirur-Calicut-Bangalore route late into 2000's. I recall back in 2003-04, when looking for the best way to get to Bangalore from Tirur, I was told about the PK travels bus. I went to the bus stand expecting to see some ordinary travels bus and was pleasantly surprised to see a Volvo standing there. PK operated a Volvo Tirur-Calicut- Bangalore for several years. Was then replaced by the semi- sleepers and then sleepers. Now they run one of the regular 2+1 Non AC buses on the route.

[bvasista]

Hi All,

I have traveled lot of times between Hyderabad - Bangalore, Hyderabad - Mangalore, Hyderabad - Chennai, Hyderabad - Tirupati and always preferred state owned transport services (KSRTC/APSRTC/TSRTC). Very rarely opted for private travels (only when train/state run bus tickets were not available). They usually have fixed timings on departure and rarely deviate from them and reach the destination almost nearly at scheduled time. These buses usually have speed controls (I have spoken with KSRTC bus driver and confirmed couple of times) and drivers also drive in shifts.

Just a free advice: Please prefer state run transport buses and opt private as last option - that too reputed ones.

Thanks & Regards,
Bharath Vasista

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by tharian

Surprising to know that PK Travels still operates. SKS, PK and couple more were the bus companies that plied on the Bangalore to Calicut route during the 80's and 90's until the Volvo's came.
I don't think SKS operates anymore apart from local routes. PK travels were one of the first to get the new design of buses from SUTLEJ in which the passenger sits high up and the windows were small compared to the older designs back then.

PK does run a lot of buses on Bangalore-Telicherry-Kannur/Vadakara/Quilandy/Payyannur routes. The B8R volvo still does Bangalore-Kozhikode-Bangalore service.

[Thilak29]

Anybody tried these Smart Buses?

[hserus]

Kallada Travels is back in the news again. This time a woman passenger had got down at their dinner stop and they took off without waiting for her or warning her. Someone chased the bus in a car and made it stop, she still had to run the whole distance.

https://www.thenewsminute.com/articl...highway-102928

[sansvk]

Read this news while I was in Kerala last week. Below is a link to an English version. I would seriously think before using or recommending Kallada.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/english...ike--1.3849322

[Turborun]

Originally Posted by Vis2249696

Diesel in the air!
I was traveling to Hyderabad from Bengaluru in an M/s Orange Tours & Travels' bus (Volvo A/C - Multi Axle Semi sleeper) booked it through redBus (based on "highest rating") and just after few minutes of drive, I and my fellow travelers smelled diesel in the cabin. We made the driver stop the bus and check for any leakages. He was hesitant, but we insisted... he quickly got down, checked and said there was no problem. In this case, most of the passengers were already asleep. This bus was coming from Coimbatore and I was the last one to get in. There were some passengers suffering with headache/dizziness because of the smell, but they didn't respond to it. After some time it got intensified and we stopped the bus again, this time we all got down and realized that the fuel was leaking, and almost all the bags in luggage compartment were soaked in diesel.
We called the operator and asked for an alternative bus (we had women traveling in the same bus), they responded saying they don't have a spare bus as it was a weekend and that we should find our own means of transport... sounds bad...? keep reading, the driver wanted to solve this problem by putting an m-seal to the fuel tank and continue the drive. I asked him if he thinks it was a water pipe that's leaking... he neither knew how to react nor to handle the situation.
It was 1AM and fortunately we sensed the danger before any mishap and while we were in Bangalore (can't imagine what would've happened if we were in some deserted place). The bus was stopped near the Hebbal flyover ( blore outer ring road), we booked cabs for the ladies and rest had to find their way out of the situation.

P.S. being conscious of one's surrounding helps and yes... busses are not safe!

Fuel leaking from the bus!
Orange Tours & Travels - Coimbatore to Hyderabad
Driver's response: we'll put m-seal and fix the leaking tank
Me: you think it's a water pipe?

Please join and share your inputs/experiences in the public group 'Complain Box'
https://www.facebook.com/groups/164693300744532/

We've also registered a complaint on consumer forum www.consumerhelpline.gov.in
following are the details:
Complain no: 370580

https://www.facebook.com/orngetravels/

Please spread the word, this may save someone's life...

#volvo #orangetravels #BussesAreNotSafe #OrangeToursAndTravels #orange #hyderabad #bengaluru #bangalore
Posting from facebook.

Thanks for sharing this here! I was the one who was in that bus, I wrote this on Facebook. I really thank everyone for so much of support and encouragement. However, due to some mysterious reasons, Facebook deleted this post. I tried reaching out to them but they never cared to respond with a proper explanation.

[suresh_gs]

Folks
As regards the new white colour SETC buses from TN and the blue/cream combo TNSTC buses, are the chassis and engine supplied by Ashok Leyland. Reason I am asking this is I dont see any logo of the manufacturer in front of the bus.