[aroonanand]

Originally Posted by narayan

Guys, which ones are the recommended operators in the Bangalore Chennai route ? is SRM good ?

I have not used SRM for this sector but have found them ok on the Blr - Tvm leg. For Bangalore- Chennai, the best is Roadlink Travels... Very clean and well maintained B7Rs, courteous crew, on time departure and good driving...

Stay away from the VRL Isuzu - poor driving and the bus is showing signs of poor maintenance....

KaSRTC Airavats are also consistent on this route.

[aroonanand]

Originally Posted by TKMCE

3 For one of our group, the jouney orignates in Bangalore and not Kochi. For Bangalore- Chennai, to get down at Thoraipakkam, whch is the nearest alighting point???

Any feedback will be appreciated.

Please use Roadlink - recently used this operator and am extremely satisfied with their service. They dropped me at T Nagar Bus Stand at 430-440 AM so I will assume they ll reach Adyar by 5 AM.. They also have a drop point at Thiruvanmiyur which may be closer to your destination. Else you can also take ABT and alight at their Guindy office... Some KPN buses also drop you at Adyar.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by narayan

Guys, which ones are the recommended operators in the Bangalore Chennai route ? is SRM good ?

SRM runs AC Sleeper services between Bangalore and Chennai. They used to be punctual. Have used their service a couple of times last year. Buses are comfortable though they have air suspension only on the rear axle.

If you need a real comfortable sleeper service, then consider KPN's AC sleeper, or VRL's non-AC service. Sharma Transports' non-AC sleeper is also another good option. However, be warned that KPN does not EVER stick to the advertised timing. The others are usually on time.

For AC semi-sleeper, this is my order of preference: Roadlink India (Volvo B7R), ABTX (Leyland), Bharathi (Merc Multi-axle), VRL (Volvo B9R Multi-axle). Haven't travelled during the past 3 months, so things could be different now.

[coolclouds]

I used VRL Non A/C sleeper few times from Bangalore to Chennai. They usually arrive on time (Madiwala) and has a drop at Central at ~5am. Very sedate driving.

[TKMCE]

Thank You all who reverted with your valuable feedback.

A couple of more queries.
1 "Coolclouds" was mentioning about the Krishnagiri route. Is this a third route then from Kerala and does this avoid Ulundurupet, Villupuram, Tambaram?? If so which will be the nearest alighting point for OMR/Thoraiapkkam??? The sleeper service of Parveen from Ernakuam as well as the Non AC sleepe rfrom PSM travels is shown as going via Vellore,Krishnagiri.

2 When I checked Redbus, looks like there are total 7 operators - 5 with AC services (KPN/Kallada/Parveen/SRM and Sona) and 2 non AC (Tippu Sultan and PSM Travels). I am leaving out the Non AC services as I doubt they will reach before 8 AM. From the rest, keeping in mind "silversteed"s feedback, I have more or less narrowed it down to the 2 Multi Axle services via Pondicherry which is the Kallada Volvo and the Parveen Merc both of which leave around 4 PM from Kochi.Any specific feedback on either of these services??

Thanks once again for the feedback

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by TKMCE

Thank You all who reverted with your valuable feedback.

A couple of more queries.
1 "Coolclouds" was mentioning about the Krishnagiri route. Is this a third route then from Kerala and does this avoid Ulundurupet, Villupuram, Tambaram??

Krishnagiri route is the GQ four lane route from Avinashi which was the fastest one compared to others. (Palakkad-Salem-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Chennai).

I think Sona and SRM used to take this route among some others but many operators presently take Ulundurupet route these days due to the road widening work at GQ. Please reconfirm with your booking agent.

I don't suggest Kallada's Pondicherry service as it reached Chennai after 8.30 am during my last trip few months back (week day travel)

[pareshraheja]

Hi, has anyone traveled by Konduskar AC sleeper in Karnataka or Maharashtra. Was just checking on redbus and found that these guys operate Volvo AC sleeper.
As far as I have known, none of the Volvo's are sleeper.

Cheers
PS: By sleeper I mean full sleeper and not semi sleeper.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by pareshraheja

Hi, has anyone traveled by Konduskar AC sleeper in Karnataka or Maharashtra. Was just checking on redbus and found that these guys operate Volvo AC sleeper.
As far as I have known, none of the Volvo's are sleeper.

Cheers
PS: By sleeper I mean full sleeper and not semi sleeper.

Konduskar is converting some of the Mark I volvo's to sleeper.
They were used as semi sleeper earlier and now they are getting converted to sleeper.
Have seen few in Kohlapur - Mumbai/Pune route.

[coriollis]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Konduskar is converting some of the Mark I volvo's to sleeper.
.

Actually they are mark 2. The one previous to the version with air intake on rhs of the rear.
The bus is at 4.30 pm from Pune and reaches Bangalore around 7 am.
Particularly horrible buses with crazy drivers as per my observation.

[pareshraheja]

Originally Posted by coriollis

Particularly horrible buses with crazy drivers as per my observation.

Buddy, when you mean by horrible, is it the condition of the bus or AC or all three, bus, ac & driver?

I am planning to travel from Blr to Belgaum on Tuesday. I suppose if I choose Konduskar, it will be the same bus that goes to Pune.

Cheers

[coriollis]

Originally Posted by pareshraheja

Buddy, when you mean by horrible, is it the condition of the bus or AC or all three, bus, ac & driver?
I am planning to travel from Blr to Belgaum on Tuesday. I suppose if I choose Konduskar, it will be the same bus that goes to Pune.
Cheers

For sleeper buses in discussion, maintenance is questionable.
For any other Konduskar services, crew is polite, but drivers are generally rash and timings are not followed.
Regarding AC, it is never switched off.

Elaborating on driver/ timing aspect:
While on return journey from BLR to Pune, the service was BLR Mumbai.
There were two drivers present, timing stated was 8 pm, bus started from majestic at 10.30 pm. Made rounds in BLR, stuffed in cargo and what not, and we stopped for dinner at Tumkur at 12.30 am.
1St driver drove till Davangiri. He got down there as he wanted to visit his hometown. To my horror the 2nd driver was to drive till Mumbai all alone. I reached pune ( Hinjewadi) at 1 pm. All the journey was filled with nervous moments due to rash driving. The bus was to start from Mumbai at 7.30 pm the same evening, to be driven by same driver till Davangiri. It simply gave me jitters. I vouched never to travel by Konduskar again.
I sincerely hope this is one off case, but I just can't look beyond KSRTC or VRL for PNQ BLR route.
Hope you find this useful.
Have a safe journey.
Cheers

[saadat1992]

Hi,
I think this might be off topic, but here's the picture of Kallada Volvo B9R in which i travelled from Chennai to Coimbatore!

[PVS]

THE GARUDA PLUS - BANGALORE - HYDERABAD - BANGALORE

Though based out of Hyderabad, I am currently in Bangalore, on a work-related assignment for about 4 months. I stay near Bommanahalli and work out of my office located in Electronic City Phase 2. Being a family man, weekend trips to Hyderabad are more of a necessity now, to catch up with the family and just unwind and relax.

Train travel to Hyderabad does not work out for me in a majority of the cases, as tickets run out nearly 3 weeks in advance on the regular trains (the Kacheguda Express and the Garib Rath). True, the Waiting Lists tend to get cleared before charting, but then there is always the element of doubt. Even if I get confirmed tickets, traveling all the way to Yeshwantpur to catch the Garib Rath departing at around 08:45 pm, means that I should plan to leave office by 05:30 pm at least. Given the tight timelines that I have, this option can be ruled out. The only other option is to catch any one of the night bus services departing Shantinagar bus stand.

Out of a number of Multi-Axle night departures available from Shantinagar towards Hyderabad, I have been regularly opting the 1070 and its counterpart the 1069 APSRTC Multi – Axle (Mercedes Benz) service.
1070 departs Shantinagar at 10:15 pm, to arrive at Hyderabad Central Bus Stand (Imlibun) by around 06:45 am, and its counterpart, No: 1069 has more or less similar timings. Ticket booking is hassle free on Apsrtc online, and I usually get a good seat even when I book on a Thursday, for a Friday departure. It’s a different matter that by the time I board the bus, almost all the seats are sold out with the crew having to turn off many last-minute travelers. Ticket costs Rs 958 (inclusive of reservation fee and Service charge) and you get a 10% discount, on booking a return.

APSRTC’s multi-axle service has a 3- member crew consisting of 2 drivers and a helper. One of the drivers doubles up as a ticket checker – he carries a print-out of the booking manifest and verifies the ticket number and the seat number – and in a majority of the cases, is not bothered to check your ID. Only on one occasion, I was asked if I was carrying my ID, and if my mobile was fully charged. I rarely take a print out – would read out the seat and the ticket number from the SMS that APSRTC sends me, once my booking has been successful.

A 10 minute delay in departure is a norm, and we depart Shantinagar at around 10:25 to 10:30 pm, briskly making our way towards Richmond Circle and Pallavi Theatre. By this time, the helper would have distributed water bottles to the PAX inside the bus, and a Telugu movie would be on. Usually, 1070 stops for about 5 minutes near Pallavi theatre, to pick up cartons and packages from DTDC, which are briskly loaded into the one of the luggage compartments. On my last trip though, 1070 didn’t make a stop here, but picked up the consignment after Hebbal Bus Stop.

One of the main advantages of traveling in an RTC service is that, once you have started from the departure point, you are straightaway on the route towards your destination, without any detours whatsoever. Many of the private operators like Kesineni, HKB, Dhanunjaya and a host of others, have multiple pick up points within the city – Kesineni for example, picks up PAX near Electronic City as early as 07:30 pm, but by the time you leave the city and hits NH 7, it is usually around 10:45 to 11:00 pm. Now, I am not that patient enough to sit in the bus and be given a free, unsolicited tour through the city’s neighbourhoods, so would prefer the RTC any day.
1070 on the contrary makes a limited number of stops occasionally – Hebbal Bus stand stop is a regular, with another stop a few kilometers ahead, Yelahanka probably. After that its’ a non-stop run to Hyderabad, with just one halt in between, for a crew change.

The style of driving ranges from sedate to mildly aggressive, depending on the delay in departure from Shantinagar. On one occasion, we left on time at around 10:25 pm, but reached Imlibun by around 07:20 am or so, the next day. On my last trip back home, we were at Hebbal Bus stop, held up for close to half an hour, waiting for 4 PAX, who finally never managed to make it. We departed Hebbal at around 11:30 pm, and reached Imlibun by 06:30 am, that means a journey time of just 7 hours, which is very impressive indeed!

9:30 to 10:00 pm is a busy time at the Volvo corner at the Central Bus station at Hyderabad, with multiple Airavath/Garuda/Garuda Plus services departing for Bellary, Bengaluru, Tirupati, Chennai, Kakinada and Amalapuram. Platform space is a premium at that time, and in my last trip, there was a heated argument between an Airavath Club Class Crew and an APSRTC Controller, over platform space. A Garuda Plus to Tirupati had just backed out of the platform, and seeing the empty platform, an Airavath Club Class bound for Bengaluru started pulling in, only to block another APSRTC Vennela Isuzu Sleeper that was pulling in. This led to a heated argument, with the KSRTC crew accusing APSRTC of not allocating space, even though KSRTC had allocated a complete track to APSRTC at Shantinagar bus stand.

1069 usually departs on time from Hyderabad at 10:15 pm, and takes some time in making its way through Madina, and Aramgarh junction before hitting NH7. There is a dinner stop at around 11:30 pm, usually at Yagnesh Virat hotel, near Jadcherla, where a host or other buses stop too. After a half an hour halt, we start off again, and by this time, the Telugu movie that was switched on after departure, is turned off.

By around 06:20 am, we would have already cleared Yelahanka, and after making stops at Hebbal, Mekri Circle and Race Course Road, we would finally reach Shantinagar at around 06:45 am. Of all the trips that I had made, not even once did 1069 get delayed, maintaining its arrival time accurately.
I travelled only once on KSRTC’s Airavath Club Class Mercedes Benz, on board its 08:20 pm service from Bengaluru. Airawath’s interiors, with a red theme, looked much more upmarket an inviting than Garuda Plus’s blue interiors, which look somewhat drab in comparison. Water Bottles and blankets were neatly arranged by the time I took my seat, and the Carnatic Music being played on the speakers, was good too. Airawath’s driving style was pretty sedate when compared to APSRTC, and the driver would take his own time for an overtake. We had a 45 minutes halt at Kamat Upachar somewhere on the way, followed by a couple more halts and finally made it to Imlibun bus stand by around 06:20 am.

This pretty much sums up my travel experiences on board the Garuda Plus. A journey time of around 7 to 7 and half hours, with a rather comfortable ride, is working out just fine, thanks to the superb Bangalore Hyderabad highway.

[Klub Class]

For the record, y'day I traveled in a KeSRTC Bus (Pala - Iritty) which leaves Pala at 18:00 and reaches Kakkad (~35kms before Calicut) at ~00:00. The bus halts at Perumbavoor for ~5mins, at Thrissur for ~20mins and Thalappara (don't know the exact duration of time they halt at this place. But I could see this bus being parked in front of a hotel and could see the bus right there even when I passed by the place 10 mins odd mins later)

So, I wish to know if there are any private buses that operate between Pala & Calicut, preferably after 16:30 and covers the distance in a shorter duration of time? Me and my friends are okay with buses that do not have stop for having foods and likes

binaiks? coolclouds?

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by Klub Class

. . . I wish to know if there are any private buses that operate between Pala & Calicut, preferably after 16:30 and covers the distance in a shorter duration of time? Me and my friends are okay with buses that do not have stop for having foods and likes

binaiks? coolclouds?

There are several private night service buses towards Malabar originating from Pala/Kottayam. Some of them are air suspension, push back etc. They go via Ernakulam. I don't remember their departure time from Pala but they leave Ernakulam around 9pm

Some buses go via Thalayolaparambu wherein some go via Koothattukulam/Piravom