Team-BHP - Intercity Bus travel reviews

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Originally Posted by sandeep959 (Post 2948541)

I slept again and woke up around 230am. the Bus was moving at a slow pace(50-60kmph). i opened the curtain to see what was happening and the dvr was constantly rubbing his eyes to avoid sleeping. I got off from the seat, went and sat in the co-drivers seat, told him lets take a break, have a cup of tea, a bio leak and then start. He readily agreed and we stopped short of Chinna Salem. i asked him where's the 2nd dvr, he said i'm the only dvr and there's no cleaner too. That gave me a and even more when he said that it has been 18 days of continuous single driving on Chen-Kym-Chen-Kollam-Blr-Tvm etc. i lost all my sleep and decided to give the Dvr company. He was from my dist, Malappuram. We chatted a lot about how he got into Kallada, his training with Volvo, his only accident when he banged a B7R against a static lorry etc. At around 4am, just short of perundhurai, he started feeling sleepy terribly. i asked him to stop if he was very uneasy. He continued till Perundhurai where we had a Diesel fill, a cup of tea and a nice wash of the windscreen.

Good initiative and nice effort to give company to that poor driver!:thumbs up

I mean driving such long distances without sleep for 18 days is MAD! 1 day itseld is unimagineable, poor guy. Kallada get you staff numbered right and appropriate rest to all else you'll loose customers! Thanks for this info buddy. Won't opt for a Kallada if I ever travel on that route.

Shoot an email to Kallada describing this incident and lets see what they have to say about this. I mean they can't risk 45 peoples life like this!:Frustrati

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Originally Posted by TKMCE (Post 2941519)

It is high time some of the transport operators should stop fooling people about what their priorities are and do some honest advertising.

What I suggest is as follows...

'Let your precious cargo travel in style. We offer your cargo a choice of attractive options - Multi/Single Axle Volvo, Merc, Izuzu Coaches/AC Sleeper/Non AC sleeper/Push Back- you name it , we have it-below deck or above deck the choice is yours!! You will be spoiled for choice and pampered by our generosity! Your cargo has never travelled in such style in India before. We transport your precious consignments in transport vehicles built to the highest global standards and emission norms !! Need multiple pick up points for your luggage - no worries - you ask, we stop- wherever u want- whenever ur want"Caught in a traffic block while coming to collect your cargo?? Just give a call to our friendly crew and they will be happy to hold the bus for you. Your cargo - our life!!!

NB : We also carry some passengers in our vehicles on a strictly space available basis and at our discretion and at our terms. No complaints will be entertained!!!!:)

There a still a few ocean going freighters who carry a few passengers!!! Now I think the concept has caught on in India in a different way . We are seeing a few cargo carriers who are now carrying some passengers in their passenger cabin!!!

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Originally Posted by a4anurag (Post 2949491)

@a4anurag, I think TKMCE's post clearly describes the attitude of these travel operators - no different from cattle-carrying lorries except for the fact that here, they ask for money from the cattle, & then take it to slaughter.

I thought the back to back duty the crew does on Kalladas's EKM BLR day service (operated by the same crew who do the night service the previous day from BLR according to BINAIKS) is dangerous enough - but atleast there are two drivers.

Thanks Sandeep for the feedback, My family now have to travel the same route (MAA-EKM) regularly and I asking them to keep away from Kallada. I find Parveena perfectly acceptable alternative and they do have two drivers always on the route. Not tried the other operators.

Wish VRL enters the Kerala route soon.

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Originally Posted by TKMCE (Post 2950460)

In some countries, a driver:

Must not drive more than 4.5 hours without break. A break of 45 minutes is mandatory as per law.

Not more than nine hours per day or 56 hours per week. This may be extended to 10 hours no more than twice during a week

Not more than 90 hours in two consecutive weeks.....

We can't expect all these in India but two drivers and a last row berth can be made mandatory at least for long routes. I don't know when is the operators going to understand "driver fatigue"

Quote:

Originally Posted by TKMCE (Post 2950460)

Thanks Sandeep for the feedback, My family now have to travel the same route (MAA-EKM) regularly and I asking them to keep away from Kallada. I find Parveena perfectly acceptable alternative and they do have two drivers always on the route. Not tried the other operators.

Actually, Kallada has "doubles" on all their routes, including their short routes. However, during peak seasons, many crew disappear overnight and do not turn up for their duty - this is a problem faced by many operators.

In one incidence, a Kesineni B9R was worked from Hyderabad to Ernakulam and back by a single driver - the rest time at Ernakulam, on paper, is only 2.5 hrs! It is not that operators want to risk the lives of their passengers - every accident is a dent to their image - but there are occasions where they cannot cancel the service, and are forced to take such risks.

It is not that I am supporting such behavior from an operator - it is surely a condemnable action. I personally feel Kallada to be a good operator - another operator from the same family, Kallada G4, is a very good operator. Both the Kalladas have "doubles" - two drivers and a cleaner.

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Originally Posted by binaiks (Post 2950607)

BINAI- If the 40 odd passengers in the bus Sandeep was travelling was told before boarding that-hey listen the bus you are travlling has only one driver who is driving non stop for the last many days - then it is a different issue!!!

About 20 odd would have cancelled then and there!!! But then the operator doesnt want to loose revenue - right!!!!

In aircraft there is FDTL- Flight Duty Time Limitations - you exceed - you cannot fly. In most European countries the same applies for coach travel also. Just because India has lax laws doesnt mean that peoples lives are any less precious here!

Quote:

Originally Posted by binaiks (Post 2950607)

@ Binaiks - It might be a genuine problem for the operators but they cannot take passengers (and their lives) for granted and play with it simply because they cannot get the right crew. I have faced this once from Dindigul to Chennai when the driver of the bus fell asleep on the wheel and rammed into a bus and a truck - thankfully no serious injury or damage. And later we realized he was driving non stop for ~5 days because of the Pongal season and the operator had a shortage of crew. And the callous operator just switched off his mobile the moment he knew there was an accident. Shows their utter disregard for passengers safety. All they are concerned about is the extra rupee they make from each passenger and that's about it. To hell with everything else. And as long as the luxury bus market remains unorganized as it is in India, this will continue.

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Originally Posted by TKMCE (Post 2950726)

Cant agree more with you. Even in buses internationally (I have seen this on bus services even in developing nations like Malaysia and Egypt), drivers dont drive beyond a particular number of hours on long haul routes unless it is a real emergency or something beyond control (say long traffic jam or co-driver falling sick during the journey). Sadly, who cares for peoples lives in India...

Quote:

Originally Posted by TKMCE (Post 2950460)

I feel the large fleet operators who have a mix of buses are better off in this aspect. Companies like SRS, Parveen, VRL, SRM have a mixed fleet of buses (ones doing inter city as well as company buses / bus transport / college bus) and can probably have a better pool of drivers who can step up during such contingencies. I am welcome to be corrected.

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Originally Posted by aroonanand (Post 2951163)

@ Binaiks - It might be a genuine problem for the operators but they cannot take passengers (and their lives) for granted and play with it simply because they cannot get the right crew.

That is exactly the problem. One way to address this is, attract more people towards this profession. For that first they need to increase the dignity of the job. Like the computer institutes, A vocational training center, where they teach Driving and casual maintenance of vehicles is the need of the hour. Hope some big firms like CMC venture in to this area, and with support from Tata, AL and Volvo, make this happen. If job placement can be provided by these institutes, i am sure more people will come to this profession.
I think we also need to attract more females to this job which will free up some drivers who could be used for long distance routes. Especially for school bus kind of operation, Females are better off than employing drivers retired from RTCs.
Another thing i wanted to ask the experts, For big operators like Kallada etc. Why cannot they have resting facilities for Drivers at some way side points (Tie up with some hotels/lodges on the way). With a centralized communication system with GPS etc, it can be managed.
One last option is to outsource the Drivers to a seperate company. Then the same driver could work with multiple operators based on need.
It may be too early, but some day all these should happen!

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Originally Posted by teamveevee (Post 2951848)

Like the computer institutes, A vocational training center, where they teach Driving and casual maintenance of vehicles is the need of the hour. Hope some big firms like CMC venture in to this area, and with support from Tata, AL and Volvo, make this happen. If job placement can be provided by these institutes, i am sure more people will come to this profession.
!

Ashok Leyland had been a piioneer in this area opening up a Driver Training Centre at the trucking hub of South India- 'Namakkal'. They have opened 2 more, one at Burari in the NCR and one more at MP.

http://www.business-standard.com/ind...ndwara/432248/

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Originally Posted by ecenandu (Post 2957222)

Need to go to Guruvayoor from Coimbatore, will be reaching Coimbatore at 5 AM Saturday, Any idea when will KSRTC start their services. This trip is planned at last moment as my company gave Monday as holiday. Wanted to give a surprise visit, other wise I would got a pick up from home.

There are no direct buses to Guruvayur at/around 5 AM, IIRC. However, there are buses to Palakkad from 3.30AM onwards.

There is one TNSTC bus, but that is at 4AM, IIRC.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ecenandu (Post 2957222)

Guys need help.

Need to go to Guruvayoor from Coimbatore, will be reaching Coimbatore at 5 AM Saturday, Any idea when will KSRTC start their services. This trip is planned at last moment as my company gave Monday as holiday. Wanted to give a surprise visit, other wise I would got a pick up from home.

Thanks in advance.

The Coimbatore-Palakkad chain service starts at 5 AM from Ukkadam bus stand. But before that, the 1st TNSTC to Guruvayur leaves at 430 AM from Gandhipuram. There is a Chennai-Guruvayur service of SETC and Tiruppur-Guruvayur too but don't know the timings.
The best would be, there would be lot of buses from Bangalore going to Thrissur and beyond, via Palakkad early morning. If u reach Palakkad, u will get plenty of buses to Guruvayur both KSRTC and Private. KSRTC will take lesser time.