[RRA_Blogger]

Hi, I am Akshay Arvind, a Chennai based busfan/railfan. Currently I live at Eindhoven, the Netherlands. I would like to start with a travel review of mine. Also, seniors can clarify if I'm allowed to post about the vehicles there, or confine myself to the Indian segment. Anything is fine!

Here goes the review!

DOJ - 06/08/2022.

Fleet : TN 68 N 0632|TNSTC - Kumbakonam|Nagapattinam/Mayiladuthurai|CRC NGT/MLD|AL VK 1611 BS 3|Porayar (CRC in-house) BBU built and reworked by Manmangalam (DCTC in-house) BBU|2014 batch|Intercity Mofussil Super Deluxe with 2+2 seating.

Route : 243G Mayiladuthurai <> Chennai,

Via : Seergazhi<>Chidhambaram<>Sethiyathope X<>Vadalur<>Neyveli Arch<>Panruti 4 roads<>Koliyanur X<>Vikravandi<>Tindivanam<>Melmaruvathur<>Perungal athur.

Fare : ₹200/- per person.

Timelines:

15.50 - Neyveli Arch Gate (Boarded).

16.20 - Panruti 4 roads.

16.45 - Koliyanur X road.

17.00 - Vikravandi toll gate.

17.05 to 17.20 - Tea break at Vels Hotel.

17.45 - Tindivanam.

18.05 - Athur toll gate.

18.20 - Melmaruvathur.

19.00 - Chengalpet toll gate.

19.40 - Perungalathur.

20.00 - Porur/Maduravoyal toll gate (Dropped).

Description:

After a wonderful time at Puducherry and a visit to my family friend's house at Neyveli Arch Gate, I was all set to depart back to Chennai. My earlier restraint on boarding SETC still stayed the same in terms of this route, with one lenient point that I would be ready to board if any AC seater or AC seater cum sleeper (SETC) of KKM (Kumbakonam) was available. I was strictly against preferring TNJ (Thanjavur) in this route, as has been known. I was waiting, and TN 32 N 4421 of CDL/KMK (TNSTC Vizhuppuram)/plying 182 came first. However, I decided to give it a miss, because it was a 3+2 seater and comfort would be totally barren over an odd 4 hr journey. Hence, I was either counting on SDs or the 199 UD/EAC fleet, and this guy came next. I immediately decided to board the fleet.



About the fleet, it was very recently reworked at Manmangalam (TNSTC Kumbakonam - Trichy region's BBU). The rework was purely external, and the fatigued metal parts, connecting frame, most of the front portion have been changed entirely, giving it a tad fresher look. The metal finished grille and the bottom 'gills', the 'frowning' headlight closet altogether give out a stance and a unique look. The rear was not majorly reworked, and preserved as such. The FC unit has also modified part of the corporation stickers and the route stickers, but they could have been done in a much better and aligned way.


Inside, it was totally upside down. Only parts of the roof that had been battered were patched up freshly, and the patchworks have been finished quite well, but a patch is a patch and kills looks. It was very sordid to see that the seat covers were not modified, and they were rather ripped apart. About 50% of the pushback levers were non functional or defective. To summarize, it is not even to be called a rework from the inside, and it doesn't amount to a total rework.









The floor did look a bit dusty, but otherwise the general maintenance of the fleet was not bad, and the roof was leak proof. There were short spells of rain after Perungalathur, and there was no water leakage. As stated earlier, the defective pushbacks of the seats contributed to a shortcoming in terms of comfort. The seat was comfortable enough by itself, and the legspace was good. There was a screw creaking quite frequently, and the window rattling was quite significant till Vikravandi, which means the window beadings also could have been mended to. The shell of the fleet was rigid for sure, but what shocked me again was the worked out suspension of the fleet. Of course, it ain't air suspension but getting a feeling of galloping on a horse back while just traversing on a plain road contributes to another shortcoming in terms of comfort. On the whole, the fleet did have better comfort than a 3+2 but I could not experience the full comfort of an SD. As a general suggestion, it would be a welcome move from technicians if they cut largely protruding boots and seal them with washers, without which they could serve to be a potential source of injury. I noticed one such bolt, which is attached. Also, the right window at the end has a broken guard rail, which could be potentially dangerous, if someone sleeping puts his/her head out without his/her knowledge.

Both crew were blue uniformed seniors. The conductor was cordial and polite towards the passengers, but there was nothing much to say beyond this, as he was just any typical polite and dutiful conductor. He tried to help a passenger, who was trying to recline his seat, and he closed a window of the rear seat when it started raining.

The driving was the star of the show today. Well, the 8 year old 160 HP engine still is peppy, and the gears were responsive too. The crew equated both in the right proportions, and his output was an optimal thrust, not too high or not too low (sometimes slightly on the higher note when needed) and well timed gearshifts (a few were harsh at times). He governed the speed of the vehicle according to the stretch. Until Koliyanur X road, the fleet peaked 65-70 kmph, while also wary of the countless potholes and 'off-road tracks'. The crew handled both judiciously for most of the ride in this segment, but braked harshly once when he was behind a lorry which braked all of a sudden.

The road was partly laid after Koliyanur X road, which made the ride a tad more pleasant after feeling all the while like a co-passenger inside an ATV in the Baja events. Here, the crew peaked a maximum of 70-80 kmph. In this case, there was no harsh braking, and he was judicious.

Upon touching NH-45, passengers automatically heave a sigh of relief, as their 'despair and dark days' with the roadways on Koliyanur X road - Anaikarai are over officially. Shortly, the fleet pulled over Hotel Vels for a tea break. It lasted for sharply 15 minute, the typical and maximum duration for any TNSTC. The motel has nothing much by itself to review. The restroom was free, as per directions, but it was not very hygienic. I just bought a cool drink as I felt like having one. A passenger, who boarded at Koliyanur X road, was searching for his bag, and was near my seats. It was natural to be alarmed, and the guy did have all in peril for a while. But at last, just as the driver boarded, he found his bag 'miraculously' in the extreme front right row - window seat.

As the ride resumed, the crew started pacing up slightly higher peak speeds of 75-85 kmph, and 85 kmph was the maximum speed that the fleet peaked throughout the ride. The handling was judicious throughout, and the driving was focused as well, without any distractions. Of course, there were a couple of harsh brakes throughout the ride, but they didn't matter much, as they would be usual for any veteran. Honking also deserves an applause, as it was very minimal and used only upon need. I dozed off for a wee 20-25 min, as the driving comfort was very good and the seat comfort welcomed me to a short nap too. The fleet kept dropping passengers all along the route, viz., Melmaruvathur, Chengalpet toll, Singaperumankoil, SRM, Guduvancherry, Vandalur and Perungalathur. The conductor dutifully reminded the passengers all along the stages.

After Perungalathur, the ride slowed down and the crew mostly peaked 60-65 kmph, due to rains and lesser visibility. Towards the end, he slightly accelerated the fleet to 70-80 kmph, only to slow down in a short while. And yeah, that marked the end of the ride as I decided to alight at Porur toll gate, to board a 104 of MTC (as I would have mentioned an umpteen number of times about its benefits for me personally).

The ride ended with mixed thoughts, that sum up the conclusion of the review:

- The rework was good outside but disappointing inside.

- The maintenance was not bad but cleanliness could be better.

- The suspension was a disappointment.

- The crew were polite, but nothing special beyond that could be said for the conductor.

- The driving comfort and speed was great, with of course a few miss a hit moments, but they were quite negligible.

- The seat comfort was good, but if the pushbacks and armrests were mended to, it'd have been something.

On the whole, this was another satisfying and quite optimal ride with a CRC (Erstwhile name of TNSTC Kumbakonam - Kumbakonam (and now Nagapattinam also) regions) SD after a long gap, and usually CRC SDs have their own reputation along Neyveli Arch Gate - Chennai. In terms of the ride, this guy today lived upto the expectations, and is a must try (provided the rectifications necessary are done).



To note : All the CRC SDs go via Porur toll and not Tambaram to reach CMBT, hence commuters would be asked to plan accordingly.



Thanks for reading! Do tell me how it is.

Hereby,

Akshay Arvind.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by RRA_Blogger

Also, seniors can clarify if I'm allowed to post about the vehicles there, or confine myself to the Indian segment. Anything is fine!

Thanks for sharing! Will add your review to our homepage later this week .

Yes, absolutely. Please do share reviews of buses / big vehicles from around the world. Request: You can upload larger images.

[RRA_Blogger]

Yeah, sure. In future, I'll take care of the size of the images!

[Pennant1970]

Originally Posted by RRA_Blogger

Yeah, sure. In future, I'll take care of the size of the images!

Gave me flashbacks of some trips I had ridden from Chennai to Kerala and Karnataka. One thing - I think the header should read TNSTC ( Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation) - not TSNTC.

Cheers.

[Thilak29]

Thanks for sharing. This brings back memories from 2003-07 period. I used to prefer these buses to Mysore over KSRTC as they used to stop less, play movies and cheaper from my place. I do not know if that specific bus will continue to ply in same route.

[vshankarhere]

Vanakkam RRA_Blogger! Nice to see a review of our namma ooru vandi which we normally do not even look at twice. While it has been some time since I had travelled in a bus, bus and train journeys have their own charm which you have narrated well. Hoping to see more of these.

Meanwhile, I can see a lot of abbreviations which you have used, like CRC, BBU, DCTC etc. Would like to get the expanded words for these for better understanding of less informed readers like me.

Thanks!

[dust-n-bones]

Originally Posted by RRA_Blogger

About the fleet, it was very recently reworked at Manmangalam (TNSTC Kumbakonam - Trichy region's BBU). The rework was purely external, and the fatigued metal parts, connecting frame, most of the front portion have been changed entirely, giving it a tad fresher look.

Looking at the photos you put up of the bus, I would have liked to see how were these buses before the refresh .

Originally Posted by RRA_Blogger

The floor did look a bit dusty, but otherwise the general maintenance of the fleet was not bad, and the roof was leak proof.

We Indians are very easy to please, I must say. Is that your sense of humour or TNSTC's which labels these buses 'super deluxe'?
Welcome aboard.

[baranib458]

Good write-up RRA_Blogger. Brought back memories of Neyveli <-> Chennai trips. Looks like travel times have improved but interior quality needs improvement. I guess quality and price point go together.

[RRA_Blogger]

Originally Posted by Pennant1970

Gave me flashbacks of some trips I had ridden from Chennai to Kerala and Karnataka. One thing - I think the header should read TNSTC ( Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation) - not TSNTC.

Cheers.

Yeah, I am not sure of how the header works. Hopefully in the future I'll be able to look more deeply into it.

[RRA_Blogger]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

Thanks for sharing. This brings back memories from 2003-07 period. I used to prefer these buses to Mysore over KSRTC as they used to stop less, play movies and cheaper from my place. I do not know if that specific bus will continue to ply in same route.

There are buses that run the same route from inception, due to low replacements, or there are buses that get replaced frequently and they're downgraded to another route or cadre (like ordinary service, townie).

[RRA_Blogger]

Originally Posted by vshankarhere

Vanakkam RRA_Blogger! Nice to see a review of our namma ooru vandi which we normally do not even look at twice. While it has been some time since I had travelled in a bus, bus and train journeys have their own charm which you have narrated well. Hoping to see more of these.

Meanwhile, I can see a lot of abbreviations which you have used, like CRC, BBU, DCTC etc. Would like to get the expanded words for these for better understanding of less informed readers like me.

CRC was the erstwhile Chozhan Roadways Corporation (Now TN 68 - Kumbakonam, Nagapattinam regions). DCTC was the erstwhile Dheeran Chinnamalai Transport Corporation (Now TN 45 - Trichy, Karur regions). BBU is the Body Building Unit, or can be considered more analogous to RWS like used in Kerala, Karnataka.

And yes, thanks for the feedback!

Originally Posted by dust-n-bones

We Indians are very easy to please, I must say. Is that your sense of humour or TNSTC's which labels these buses 'super deluxe'?

I am afraid that it is TNSTC's eerie sense of Humour. But yes, Super Deluxe fleet are those enabled with pushback seats and they do not have an air suspension. Ultra Deluxe buses (should) have both.
Going by History, SETC labelled luxury coaches (equivalent to super deluxe) as ultra deluxe coaches with the UD tariff, as they didn't want to maintain a different tariff slab. Fortunately, with the inception of white fleet, these buses have been done for.

Likewise, TNSTC Vizhuppuram still follows the nefarious practice of labelling SDs as UDs and collecting UD fare for those (except select routes).

BTW, I do not have old pictures of the fleet. I'll search and post them this evening.

Originally Posted by baranib458

Good write-up RRA_Blogger. Brought back memories of Neyveli <-> Chennai trips. Looks like travel times have improved but interior quality needs improvement. I guess quality and price point go together.

Definitely. Upon inception the quality was indeed good. It is no surprise that the shell quality is still quite the same, but the interior quality and maintenance together have degraded with time thanks to the road conditions and also the lacklustre attitude towards maintenance.

Thanks, By the way!

Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Akshay.

[aneezan]

Originally Posted by RRA_Blogger

Hi, I am Akshay Arvind, a Chennai based busfan/railfan. Currently I live at Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

Akshay Arvind.

Nice review. Brings back very old memories. Good to see someone from Eindhoven here.

[RGK]

Originally Posted by RRA_Blogger

Thanks for reading! Do tell me how it is.

This is the first time I have seen a thorough review of TNSTC in tbhp. I'm grateful for that.

Here are some thoughts I have about TNSTC services.

1. In the 1980s, TN had the best public transportation system and serviced every part of the state with high quality buses. the only state in India has buses running directly from each of its Taluk Headquarters to Chennai. Each bus corporation sought to outperform the others in terms of quality and customer service. Unfortunately, that isn't the case right now (All bus corporations running in loss today). In general, the branch manager of the specific depot's interest determines how neatly the bus is kept.

2. At the time, the maintenance was carried out by the corresponding depots for the long-distance buses, and each depot was vying to show off that its bus was the best.

3. All buses headed north congregate at Vikaravandi (on the NH 38 (old no NH 45)) , and it was a treat to see the calibre of buses from various corporations. To compete with top private competitors like KPN, KB, Yogalakshmi, Conti, and others, some govt buses developed 2+2 pushback (off course without Air Suspensions).

4. To compete with TNSTC lines, the TN government established SETC (State Express Transport Corporation), which first solely operated long-distance buses (eg: Coimbatore - Chennai, Madurai - Bangalore). Heard that they are currently reclaiming their former splendour.

5. The TNSTC bus travel was prolonged by the requirement to stop at each and every bus stop in every town. These buses enter bus stations where people are free to get on and off, endangering the possessions of passengers. Recently, they introduced air-conditioned 1+1 buses (Point to Point services).

6. TN operates almost 20000 (TNSTC & SETC) buses during the week of the big festivals like Diwali and Pongal (Mahara Sankaranthi).

[greenhorn]

An outsider's view of this - My dad retired as a senior bureaucrat from KeSRTC, and used to handle inter state route negotiations among his responsibilities.
He had a high opinion of KaSRTC, and said they were very professionally run.
for TN - his opinion was that in the early days, these regional bus agencies for handed out to local politicians to run, with size etc tied to their standing. But the professionalism and service was pretty dependent on the politician calling the shots - some were professionaly run, others were just excuses for politicians to siphon funds. His opinion was that the newly combined entity was a better idea -at least it made his life easier because he had a single point of contact now.

I recall him coming back from these negotiations with the business card of his counterpart. Same Name, but different company - TTC, JJTC, SETC over the years.
He felt that having separate entities for long distance and city services was a bad idea because you end up stuck with really shabby buses in the long distance routes - as you can see here. In KeSRTC, New buses almost always went into long distance routes first (super fast and above) and then were moved into Ordinary/City services after some threshold.

[RRA_Blogger]

Originally Posted by aneezan

Nice review. Brings back very old memories. Good to see someone from Eindhoven here.

That's great to know! Looking forward to see you in person some day.

Originally Posted by RGK

This is the first time I have seen a thorough review of TNSTC in tbhp. I'm grateful for that.

Here are some thoughts I have about TNSTC services.

1. In the 1980s, TN had the best public transportation system and serviced every part of the state with high quality buses. the only state in India has buses running directly from each of its Taluk Headquarters to Chennai. Each bus corporation sought to outperform the others in terms of quality and customer service. Unfortunately, that isn't the case right now (All bus corporations running in loss today). In general, the branch manager of the specific depot's interest determines how neatly the bus is kept.

2. At the time, the maintenance was carried out by the corresponding depots for the long-distance buses, and each depot was vying to show off that its bus was the best.

3. All buses headed north congregate at Vikaravandi (on the NH 38 (old no NH 45)) , and it was a treat to see the calibre of buses from various corporations. To compete with top private competitors like KPN, KB, Yogalakshmi, Conti, and others, some govt buses developed 2+2 pushback (off course without Air Suspensions).

4. To compete with TNSTC lines, the TN government established SETC (State Express Transport Corporation), which first solely operated long-distance buses (eg: Coimbatore - Chennai, Madurai - Bangalore). Heard that they are currently reclaiming their former splendour.

5. The TNSTC bus travel was prolonged by the requirement to stop at each and every bus stop in every town. These buses enter bus stations where people are free to get on and off, endangering the possessions of passengers. Recently, they introduced air-conditioned 1+1 buses (Point to Point services).

6. TN operates almost 20000 (TNSTC & SETC) buses during the week of the big festivals like Diwali and Pongal (Mahara Sankaranthi).

Yes, that's pretty true and informative. Back then there was a lot of healthy competition, and all that's there today is the unfair and nefarious schemes of competition.

Originally Posted by greenhorn

An outsider's view of this - My dad retired as a senior bureaucrat from KeSRTC, and used to handle inter state route negotiations among his responsibilities.
He had a high opinion of KaSRTC, and said they were very professionally run.
for TN - his opinion was that in the early days, these regional bus agencies for handed out to local politicians to run, with size etc tied to their standing. But the professionalism and service was pretty dependent on the politician calling the shots - some were professionaly run, others were just excuses for politicians to siphon funds. His opinion was that the newly combined entity was a better idea -at least it made his life easier because he had a single point of contact now.

I recall him coming back from these negotiations with the business card of his counterpart. Same Name, but different company - TTC, JJTC, SETC over the years.
He felt that having separate entities for long distance and city services was a bad idea because you end up stuck with really shabby buses in the long distance routes - as you can see here. In KeSRTC, New buses almost always went into long distance routes first (super fast and above) and then were moved into Ordinary/City services after some threshold.

That's true. It would be easier to have a single point of contact.

Most of those agencies were not run for politicians, but a few did run, which caused the agencies to shut down and be renamed as TNSTC.

The first four agencies were Cheran, Chozhan, Pandian and Pallavan, reincarnating the four legendary Tamil empires. There were many branches from these reminiscing the yeoman work of freedom fighters from Tamilnadu. Of course at the end, like you said, there were some names, also a few controversial names, that sparked controversy and finally ended up with TNSTC.

Though the point of contact was really a difficulty, back then I'd say it was far better in terms of maintenance and procurement of fleet, and each body building unit has tried outputting as unique products as possible.

For instance, you would know that TTC, KTC (Kattabomman Transport Corporation - TN 72) (Ranithottam was a part of it while constructing for KeSRTC) have constructed fast passenger, super express buses for KeSRTC. Cheran Engineering Corporation (CEC), a unit of Cheran Transport Corporation (TN 38, 39) (CTC) has pioneered a lot and is still building fire emergency vehicles.

Please note - I forgot the multi-quote option back then, and henceforth I'll use it. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Cheers!
Akshay.