ANgamaly Truvandrum Angamaly KeSRTC SUper Fast Travelled Angamaly Trivandrum and back to Alwaye on KeSRTC Super Fast services.
Angamaly Trivandrum was on a Sunday night. No reservations and it was pouring with rain from Sunday morning.
Reached Angamaly around 10.45 PM. Bus stand was well lit and not very crowded. In 10 minutes one Super Fast turned up but that was too crowded with no seats available , so gave it a miss. A lot of north bound buses turned up one after the other including an Express to Sultan Battery , a Super Fast operating on Trivandrum Mangalore route as well as a Kottarakkara Coimbatore Super Fast. There were also ordinary FPs to Thottilpalam and Vazhikadavu. Around 11.15 PM, the next Trivandrum bound Super Fast turned up and I just about managed to get the last seat available , a middle one on a three seater (these buses have a 2 x 3 non push back configuration). This bus of the Kannur Depot was operating a Kannur Trivandrum schedule and I expected it to go via Vytilla. However it took the conventional route via Palarivattom, Kaloor to the KeSRTC bus station at Ernakulam and then the Thevara, Thoppumpady EdaKochi route. About 8-10 people got down at Aluva and the bus went inside Aluva town but didn't enter the bus station, instead stopping outside.A lot of people got down between Aluva and Ernakulam and bus was almost half empty by the time it reached Ernakulam where it again filled up including a lot of people going to Trivandrum. The crew took just one 15 minute break , at Kayamkulam and after Kollam , a lot of people including to my surprise a few girls traveling alone were boarding at intermediate stops after Kollam all headed to Trivandrum. Bus took the Ulloor, Pattom, Palayam route and reached Trivandrum bus station at 5.15 AM,. 6 hours from Angamaly to Trivandrum was very creditable as it was raining heavily all the way. Also roads in the NH south from Angamaly are in fairly good condition for almost the entire stretch and I managed to grab some sleep after Ernakulam by where I had moved to a window seat on a 2 seater section. Fare was 175 Rs end to end. Saw a Low Floor Volvo to Ernakulam ready to leave at 5.30 AM and checked wren the next service was and was informed it is at 11.30 AM.
Return was the next day. Reached KeSRTC Bus station round 9.30 to see a Trichur Super Fast pulling in and an announcement that reservation coupons are available. Bought one since it was mentioned that the bus goes via Vytilla and was alloted seat no 11 , a window seat on the 2 seat section towards the front. The bus was of the Karunagapally depot and left at 9.55 AM The journey was totally forgettable and finally got down at Aluva byepass (bus does not go inside town) at 5.10 PM, 7 hours 15 minutes after leaving Trivandrum, painfully slow for a 240 km journey. However there were blocks of about 20 minutes just after Attingal and a 45 minute crawl between Kollam and Chavara, both due to the "Vavu" ceremonies happening on the day.
Dont be fooled by the "Via Vytilla bye pass" tag. There is not much time saving as these buses go inside Vytilla mobility Hub where to just get in and get out of the hub you waste about 20 minutes at signals alone, In addition I dont see much difference between an Ordinary and Super Fast service of KeSRTC in terms of number of stops. From Vytilla, the crew were stopping for literally every guy who hopefully stuck out his hand at enroute local bus stops, and there were about 8 stops between Vytilla and Alwaye , all for people getting in. I have no complaints about tis during the night journeys but between 3 P amd 6 PM there was no shorhtage of short distance buses or even long distance ordinary/FP buses(we overtook one Harippad Aluva ordinary on the same route just after Alleppy) and such stoppages make a mockery of the needs of long distance passengers. Considering that the bus took 20 minutes just get in and get out of the mobility hub and from where it left with all seats taken, again picking up standing pax from Vytilla junction onwards is again a classic case of driving away long distance passengers. The B11 R of Suresh Kallada (I guess the second serviice to Hyderabad) was parked at the Kallada office at Vytilla and overtook us on the way. Also at Kazhakkutam near Trivandrum, both the Parveen Services from Chennai (the Merc and the Snooze) as well as the G4 Bangalore Trivandrum service via Nagercoil were parked. Total fare Trivandrum to Alwaye was 165 but next time I guess I would either take the 5.30 AM or 11.30 AM low floor Volvos to Ernakulam and get down at Vytilla or MG Road and take a connecting bus which if nothing else will be more comfortable. However the night services are not a bad option from Angamaly or Aluva to Trivandrum and the roads are definitely not in a bad shape towards the southern part. |