[ghodlur]

I rarely do take the intercity bus service but this time I had to due to shortage of time and unavailability of cheaper flights + strict instructions from home minister not to travel by own car. I managed to book a ticket in VRL Travels from Bangalore to Pune and this was an overnight journey starting at Yeshwantpur Railway station and ending at Vadgaon Navale bridge in Pune. Had some real high hopes about the travel in a sleeper class bus but soon to turn into an anguish. The bus was supposed to be Volvo 9600 Gold class from VRL.
1. The bus came late, travelled late, reached late. So punctuality for a VRL bus is out of the window in a jiffy.
2. Had opted for lower berth (the double one) in which the lights (reading & cabin) inside didn't work. Fortunately the USB connection worked for charging the mobile.
3. Unrequired and unplanned stops: First stop was at Tumkur hardly 2 hrs into travelling from Yeshwantpur, reason being tea break for Driver. Next halt wad diesel refuleing at Chitradurge. Third halt at 10 pm for dinner at Rane Bennur, who in the real world has dinner at 10 pm? Again this was to facilitate the driver, customer go take a walk. Next couple of halt for Nature's call for Driver. Next halt was tea break at Satara. The bus reached 1.5hrs late at the drop off destination.
4. Unmaintained bus - The bus was rattling beyond expectations. The road conditions, speed breakers, rumbler strips, hard braking were all being felt very pronounced along with the twists and turns of the bus itself.

Maybe I must be travelling after a long time but the trip surely felt an out of life experience. I have a return trip also planned from Pune to bangalore with the same bus operator and have been having second thoughts. I am thinking of opting for BlaBla car the car pool sharing app and have found one who is travelling at my interested time and date. Should I go with Blabla or continue the Bus trip itself?

[HWKingInnCrysta]

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[ike]

I took an intercity bus after a very long time, on a Kerala RTC Swift seater A/C. The bus was supposed to start at 2030 Hrs from the Kilambakkam bus stand but started 10 mins late as a couple of passsengers were late. The crew were courteous, the bus was in decent shape too. It arrived at Thrissur at 0745 Hrs, 15 mins ahead of schedule. Earlier, arrival time in Thrissur was 0655 Hrs however this has been revised with effect from the last week of Oct and now the scheduled arrival time in Thrissur is 0800 Hrs.

Nothing to complain as such, by the looks of it the bus is quite popular with people. I wish KeSRTC introduce more buses between Ernakulam - Chennai and also a few Gajraj sleeper services.

[bht]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

I rarely do take the intercity bus service but this time I had to due to shortage of time and unavailability of cheaper flights + strict instructions from home minister not to travel by own car. I managed to book a ticket in VRL Travels from Bangalore to Pune and this was an overnight journey starting at Yeshwantpur Railway station and ending at Vadgaon Navale bridge in Pune.

Thanks, how long did the bus take to travel from BLR to PUNE?

[vrprabhu]

Ghodlur,
Airavat is the best option to travel from Pune to Bangalore. The buses are well maintained and keep their timings.

All others are sub-par, with VRL at the bottom : based on my experience.

The best timing between Pune to Bangalore was 14 hrs (by KSRTC) and the worst was 18 hrs (by VRL). The time of departure from Pune and Bangalore is a key factor, given the traffic density in both the cities.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by bht

Thanks, how long did the bus take to travel from BLR to PUNE?

On paper the time was 15h 30 min but it took 17 hrs to reach the destination.

Originally Posted by vrprabhu

Ghodlur,
Airavat is the best option to travel from Pune to Bangalore. The buses are well maintained and keep their timings.

All others are sub-par, with VRL at the bottom : based on my experience.

The best timing between Pune to Bangalore was 14 hrs (by KSRTC) and the worst was 18 hrs (by VRL). The time of departure from Pune and Bangalore is a key factor, given the traffic density in both the cities.

I had travelled in Airavat way back in 2022 and based on that journey experienced had vowed not to travel by bus because there is no guarantee that any bus plying on this route would reach on time and now with the big excuse of road construction, every bus operator can smartly shrugg off on the punctuality part. Plus I have seen in KSRTC as well as VRL, these buses halt at some shady places always for dinner/tea/nature's break and it is well known that the drivers earn their free meals from these places as incentive. The spot where VRL travels had halted for dinner had a washroom which was unusable, it stinked so badly and leaking pots all over the place. Now why would a reputed operator halt at such location? When I asked the driver, he said the operator co has a tie up with such place only.

I feel sad that passengers hard earned money is taken for granted.

So I decided in my return trip to use BlaBla car and luckily found one such person who also had been a victim to the bus journeys in that sector.

[bht]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

On paper the time was 15h 30 min but it took 17 hrs to reach the destination.

Thanks, 17hrs to Pune is a crime.
I'll update next week once my trip with VRL is done. fingers crossed

[akash_v12]

I've travelled by KSRTC's Ambaari Dream Class from Bengaluru to Mumbai & Pune around 5 times, so I'll be penning my thoughts on these services. Keep in mind, the Mumbai rotations are operated by F4181/F4156 (I mainly get 4181, although I ended up getting F4144 last time, which operates the night service to Ernakulam usually), whilst the Pune rotations are operated by F4126/F4090. All of these buses are Volvo B11Rs, with the body of the MG Starz. Here is my take on the services.

After I moved to BLR for college, getting home always meant booking a flight early (especially during the festive season) or waiting till the very last moment to get cheap tickets. After becoming unlucky a couple of times, I'll take the Ambaari Dream Class service home as it suits my college timings and is relatively inexpensive (ESPECIALLY in the festive season). The delay is not something other than something that can be controlled by the crew, given the eternally long roadworks on the Maharashtra side. Still, they tend to keep it to a minimum, and I get down at Belapur by around 10:30.

I hadn't ever travelled by bus before this, so the experience of a 15-18 hour bus journey was brand new to me. KSRTC's 4PM Departure for the Mumbai-bound bus makes it easy to get out of the city by 5PM at the maximum. This service, too, has started halting at Shree Rathnam Restaurant, Billanakote, for its tea break around 5:30-5:45PM instead of Karajeevanahalli Toll Plaza a bit later. This was a much-needed move since the washrooms at the restaurant are much cleaner than they were at the toll. However, they have changed the dinner break to some restaurant in Davangare. While the food is decent, the washroom needs a significant upgrade.

The drivers display no hurry or rash driving whatsoever, which is a critical factor in my choosing KSRTC over every operator. They are always courteous and will even converse nicely if they are not too busy. I prefer taking a lower single seat (as I usually travel alone). Avoid taking Seat No. 13 since the stickers cover the window.

I'm around 5ft10in, and I can lay down perfectly fine. The bed is on the narrower side, but I don't mind. KSRTC does provide freshly laundered blankets on every trip from Bengaluru. The only complaint I have with the seat is that it is a bit hard to sit up straight due to the position of the backrest. Otherwise, it should be okay. Plugpoints, reading lights, USB sockets, etc., all work, which is a big plus. Moreover, there is consistent network coverage throughout the route, so one wouldn't have any problem with any shows.

Attaching some pictures as well.