[binaiks]

Originally Posted by ramzsys

In all my trips in the Hindusthan, i found that there's lot of young woman when compared to KPN.

Did they get the shawl at Electronic city itself?

True. This trip was no different - lots of women in the bus. May be they feel Hindusthan in safer than KPN (Hindusthan, IMHO, takes lesser breaks than KPN), or could be something to do with the timings.

During my trip, they did not collect back the shawls at all! May be they took it back after Silk Board.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by binaiks

.....
Kallada G4 is doing really great with their services - I was really happy to hear that all the services out of Bangalore now has very good loads, and often gets sold out before some "preferred" operators on the route........

Hey Binai I think you are worried about some other prefered operator in other forums. Here we dont have any issues.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Hey Binai I think you are worried about some other prefered operator in other forums. Here we dont have any issues.

Hahaha.. I am least "worried" about some operators. The post was written for both the forums (slight changes to suit "local" taste though).

[AlphaKilo]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Hey Binai I think you are worried about some other prefered operator in other forums. Here we dont have any issues.

Originally Posted by binaiks

Hahaha.. I am least "worried" about some operators. The post was written for both the forums (slight changes to suit "local" taste though).

I had seen your posts there in the "Other" forum You don't need to change/modify your opinions here in TBHP even if that "Preferred" operator reads this! That is what we TBHPians are known for - being straight forward and fair!
OTOH, Any updates on the ABT service between Bangy - chennai ? I was their regular customer since they started the service untill march 2011. So how is it these days? still the same old, good ABT or have they also got into the mud?

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by AlphaKilo

OTOH, Any updates on the ABT service between Bangy - chennai ? I was their regular customer since they started the service untill march 2011. So how is it these days? still the same old, good ABT or have they also got into the mud?

I am even otherwise known to be "on the face"

ABT: The service quality is going down. Maintenance of their buses are horrible - its a sorry sight now. Hope they get some better buses, and continue with their good work.

[dhandapanik]

Originally Posted by AlphaKilo

OTOH, Any updates on the ABT service between Bangy - chennai ? I was their regular customer since they started the service untill march 2011. So how is it these days? still the same old, good ABT or have they also got into the mud?

Going to bangalore next week for a short trip. The travel will be on sunday night and its bit tough to get tickets in sunday night. Initially planned to take ABT from either Pollachi/Coimbatore. But the tickets are not available.

As binai mentioned, their maintenance is going down now. Saw one of their buses near madurai without front windshield, not sure what happened.

Tried to check ticket in Hindusthan for sunday night travel, but no luck. :( Only KPN got few seats available in their multi axles. Need to get one in them.

[TKMCE]

Saw the Kallada National Mumbai Ernakulam bus near Alathur around 9 PM. The promised arrival as per the website is 1130 PM, so the timings are not too far off the mark. Only thing is with a scheduled arrival of 1130 PM, the timings are hardly great for somone who does want to travel all the way (and believe me - with the air fares on Mumbai Kochi going through the roof thanks to Kingfisher saying bye bye, there will be takers for the bus service @2500 as well)

[autotranny]

Guys,

My parents are travelling from Thrissur to Hyd next week. As always train tickets are unavailable, so I have asked them to take the Garib Rath till B'lore. My original intention was to take the Secunderabad Garib Rath on the next day , but unfortunately being a Friday, no tickets are available. Which bus operator would you guys suggest. Pick up from Yelahanka and drop off at Miyapur/KPHB.

Does the Kallada, Calicut-Hyd service issue tickets from b'lore to hyd. Kallada will be much preferred as there a high likelihood that the crew will be comfortable in conversing in Malayalam

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by autotranny

Does the Kallada, Calicut-Hyd service issue tickets from b'lore to hyd. Kallada will be much preferred as there a high likelihood that the crew will be comfortable in conversing in Malayalam

Kallada does sell bangalore-hyd tickets, but I doubt if they have a pick-up at Yelahanka. That bus is usually the last from Bangalore, and hence leaves Kalasipalya only around 2300~2330hrs. Please call up Kallada's Kalasipalya/Madiwala office - they might help.

This is their Madiwala office number: 080-42112526,42010000. Kalasipalya: 080-41140799, 25997858, 32926238.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by autotranny

Pick up from Yelahanka and drop off at Miyapur/KPHB.

I think Hebbal is a pick up point for most of the buses. I saw few of them parked there last week.

Just noted following buses pass through BIAL toll and their timings:

11:30 - Airavat
11:35 - Airavat
11:36 - Orange
11:36 - Diwakar (2 buses)
11:37 - APSRTC S.DLX, Kaveri, SRS, Akbar Volvo Sleeper, SVR (AL)
11:40 - National Merc, VRL B7R, SVR (AL), Omer Volvo SL, VRL B9R
11:42 - Rajesh Travels
11:45 - VRL B9R
11:47 - Bharathi B9R

What I mean to say is, irrespective of their departure timings, most of them leave Hebbal at almost similar time.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by autotranny

Guys,

My parents are travelling from Thrissur to Hyd next week. Which bus operator would you guys suggest. Pick up from Yelahanka and drop off at Miyapur/KPHB.

Does the Kallada, Calicut-Hyd service issue tickets from b'lore to hyd. Kallada will be much preferred as there a high likelihood that the crew will be comfortable in conversing in Malayalam

Alternately you could try for tickets on the many trains that start from Bangalore towards Secunderabad & Kachiguda.It would be easier for your parents to take the train I guess(of course subject to ticket availability).You could also check avlblty in the Delhi bound trains as they also go via Secunderabad(Rajdhani,Karnataka etc).

I would suggest the KA-Airavat Club class as the drivers are excellent and very courteous and language shouldnt be a problem.Dont count on Kallada having Malayalam speaking crew as at times they are managed by non-malayalam speaking crew.

If bus,then you could book them on the 1905 Dep from Shanti Nagar which goes to Bidar via Kukatpally-Miyapur.I guess they would be able to stop at Miyapur for them to alight(I am not sure about this though).

There is also an APSRTC Volvo(Garuda Plus Multi Axle) which reaches KPHB around 815 from Majestic(iirc-check APSRTC website)

[TKMCE]

Kallada is a Malayali operator but the crew as Ranjith said need not be Malayalis always. And they do not have a boarding point, forget in Yelahanka but not even in Hebbal as well if their website is to be believed. And being a bus which originates in Calicut, it should be your last choice. ALWAYS go for a Bangalore originating bus.

Most of the Airvaths have a YELHANKA boarding point near the police station. Do not need to back track all the way to Hebbal. You can filter the departures using boarding point in their website. Make sure that you specify the boarding at the time of booking. For the past one year I have been boarding from an intermediate point (Aluva - on the EKM BLR services) and never had a problem with KaSRTC.

Also ORANGE which many people have spoken of very highly has a boarding point at Yelahanka as do most others including Kesineni. DO NOT WASTE TIME BACKTRACKING TO HEBBAL.

[autotranny]

Thankyou everyone for the suggestions.

I finally booked on the Kesineni (Mys-Hyd), 11.15 pm Yelahanka pick-up and last drop off is at Nizampet rd junction, KPHB, which is very close to my home at Miyapur. I wanted to get HKB, but unfortunately being a Friday night, they were almost full.

Somethings I noticed during this process : Kesineni charges Rs 850/- which is near the average, the cheapest being VRL's day service at Rs 650/- (though I think this is a B7R). At the other end, VRL Multi charges Rs 1200 for its night service along with SRS, Jabbar etc. The sleeper buses of Orange, Dhanunjaya, Omer etc are priced at 1500/- , which is almost up there with Olivea which is only Rs 1800/- with all the goodies they 'promise'. So it was no surprise that the cheaper buses were almost sold-out, while VRL had 47 seats each available on three buses of theirs.

What do you guys think ? Is it better for an operator to go with near average prices and sell more tickets or go for premium pricing even though there are no add-on facilities provided.

Also, how is VRL performing ? have they gone overboard in ordering too many buses and now trying to fit it into some or the other routes. I don't see VRL being spoken of as first choice operator in any of these routes (other than may be in hubli, belgaum connectivity)

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by autotranny

I finally booked on the Kesineni (Mys-Hyd), 11.15 pm Yelahanka pick-up and last drop off is at Nizampet rd junction, KPHB, which is very close to my home at Miyapur. I wanted to get HKB, but unfortunately being a Friday night, they were almost full.
...

What do you guys think ? Is it better for an operator to go with near average prices and sell more tickets or go for premium pricing even though there are no add-on facilities provided.

Kesineni's has a stable pricing policy. They charge the same price throughout the week irrespective of season/off-season. Other operators - especially VRL, SRS, etc - charge lower fares on working days and close to double the fare on weekends.

Based on my conversation with operators, the flexible pricing policy is more remunerative - but it damages their reputation royally. Passengers often have a soft corner for operators who do not loot them on weekends/holidays.

[TKMCE]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Kesineni's has a stable pricing policy. They charge the same price throughout the week irrespective of season/off-season. Other operators - especially VRL, SRS, etc - charge lower fares on working days and close to double the fare on weekends.

Based on my conversation with operators, the flexible pricing policy is more remunerative - but it damages their reputation royally. Passengers often have a soft corner for operators who do not loot them on weekends/holidays.

There is no damage of reputation and it is a puzzle why some people cannot still come to terms with reality!!! The same people have no problem paying premum rates for prime time shows in multiplexes where the morning shows are discounted.


This is market economics pure and simple ....

We are talking about perishable inventory here.