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Not just Sharma, but every operator does the same. That is perhaps why they have two drivers! One of them is allowed to sleep while the other drives.

Seems KeSRTC started to divert some of the long distance schedules from Trivandrum through Ekm byepass. Just saw 13 00hrs Palakkad Chittur SF from Tvm with vytilla byepass board.

All inter-city buses are being diverted to the new Vyttila Mobility Hub from 08:00hrs to 20:00hrs, and only those services that start their first trip of the day from Ekm during this period begin service from the KSRTC depot.

I heard that this is done as a step towards decongesting the city roads, and if it's found doable, the timings will be extended.

A little off topic, the KeSRTC double decker running in EKM district now starts all its trips from Angamaly itself. Earlier most of the trips used to terminate at Kalamasserry. The drivers seemed to have mastered the vehicle and on empty stretches they drive it at a fairly fast clip. Got an earful from my 5 year old when he waw the monster overtaking a slow moving private bus we were travelling in (I had told him that the DD is too slow!). To atone for my sins finally took him on the bus the next day clap:and he enjoyed it.

Not a bad option if you want to go to places like Oberon or Gold Souk Mall from Angamaly/Alwaye. Bus passess by Gold Souk mall on the way back around 1,30 towards Alwaye and this particular tip is well patronised.

The mobility hub has been renamed as the immobility hub by yours truly.

I really do not get it. Consider thisL-

1. Buses to Paravur / Kodungallur start from here. People wanting to travel on FP / LS to these areas have to take cheranelloor buses and change buses at Edappally. (no common bus stop for cheranellor and LS/FP buses in this direction.

2. Ordinary buses from Tripunithura / aroor either (a) have to cross the crowded Vytilla junction twice once for entry, once for exit to enter the city. (Eg;- Tripunithura bus enters the Pvtm <> aroor stretch of the byepass, turns right to enter the hub, exits from the Tripunithura <> Ekm road, and crosses the junction again to enter SA road. or (b) they skip the hub altogether.

I find it more time saving to get off these buses before they enter hub, and get into the next bus coming out of the hub. This saves half hour or more.

3. People coming by LS/FP buses from Tripunithura / Aroor side have to get off in the crowded junction and stake their lives to get into next ordinary bus to enter the city.

Possible solutions would be to do away with the oneway to enter the mobility hub.

I agree. It's a real pain to have a one way system for the entry and exits. But i guess that has to do with easing the flow inside the terminal. But they could use the by-road at the inner side of the curving design for city buses atleast. AFAIK, its in use to park long distance buses till their turn comes up.

All buses originating/terminating at Ernakulam will enter the old bus station (except those specified as "Vyttila"). Only buses go through will go via Vyttila.

People who are adamant to travel by Private buses would have to suffer. KeSRTC is still operating buses on the Ernakulam-Guruvayur route via Kaloor - Although the frequency has been reduced, the service is still on.

A good % of passengers getting in at Kaloor/Palarivattom would get off at Varapuzha/Parur - they still have the option of ordinary buses.

Ordinary buses from Tripunithura/Aroor to the city WILL NOT enter the hub - they are not required to do so. Only the buses in the opposite direction will enter the hub. However, buses from Tripunithura/Aroor side terminating at Vyttila will surely enter the hub.

However, I am in support of allowing buses in both direction for the exit route that opens to the Ernakulam-Ettumanoor road. However, that road, IIRC, is very narrow.

This is a violation - buses are NOT supposed to stop at Vyttila junction. They are required to drop the passengers only at the hub - but they don't do so.

Few days back I saw two Sindhu Travels multi axle Volvos and one Viji Travels multi axle in Bangalore.

Which route are they into?

Vijiyathra is operating on Bangalore - Pathanamthitta Route, though this is not updated in their website. The website shown the following routes as launching soon..Viji Yathra - Online Bus tickets to Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Dharmasthala, Goa, Hyderabad, Mangalore, Pondicherry, Thrissur, Vijayawada, Guntur, Ernakulam, palakkad, Madurai, Velankanni, Pandicherry, Vellore, Sriperumbudur, Tanjavore, Tirupath

Bangalore - Tvm (Via EKM) & Bangalore - TVM- Attingal (Via Nagercoil)..Not sure whether these routes are already operational or not..

Sindhu Travels seams to be operating the Multi's from Bangalroe to Hyd or Vijayawada.

Missed the starting day (21 days before the journey date) for booking a return ticket with KSRTC after the Pooja holidays. So, had to book a higher priced ticket with SRS Travels, through redBus.
Price: Rs.650 (this ticket otherwise costs Rs.450, but since it's festive season, they were charging a higher rate)
Scheduled departure time from Coimbatore Omnibus stand: 23:00hrs
Expected time of arrival at Madiwala, Bangalore: 06:30hrs
Actual time of arrival at Madiwala, Bangalore: 05:11hrs

I hardly ever take a bus between Palakkad and Coimbatore, but this time, I thought of trying the bus, after a long time. Stood in the queue to board the bus at Palakkad KSRTC depot (the norm is, KSRTC buses and TNSTC-CBE buses would alternate on the route). Last night, for some reason, there were 3 TSNSTC buses in series, waiting for their departure, and only two KSRTC long distance Super Expresses parked in the depot (these buses won't be filled from the dedicated queue, as they will have passengers who boarded from other places). I got into one of those 3 buses, which were filled successively. Got a seat towards the rear, just behind the rear axle. It was an AL Viking BS3 with Weveller suspension. Engine was very soft and the bus picked up speed very well. The 6-speed gear box was making things easier for the driver, it seemed. The NH-47 had frequent bad patches after crossing Walayar, due to the construction of overbridges. Started from Palakkad at 20:30hrs, and reached Ukkadam, Coimbatore at 21:45hrs.

From Ukkadam, got a local bus to the Omnibus stand, which is on the Ganapathy road, and reached there at 22:20hrs. Once inside, i found out the booking office for SRS Travels. I showed the guy in charge, the M-ticket, and he directed me to the bus which was parked there. All berths except 2-3 were filled by 22:45hrs (there were people who would board the bus from Peelamedu and Avinashi) The bus started rolling soon after, and at 23:00hrs sharp, the bus was out of the bus stand. It was a good bus. Engine noise was hardly audible inside the cabin, though it was not sealed - being a non-AC coach. The suspension gave a feeling of floating. This ensured that I slept nicely without any interruptions. There was a fan and a charging point - both were working, unlike in many other buses. I plugged in my phone and turned on the GPS so I could see the trip details.

Total journey time was 6hrs 11min, including the 20min break at Hosur for unloading luggage.
Total distance covered: 333km
Max speed achieved: 120kmph (for a brief stretch between Avinashi and Salem)
Average speed for the trip: 56.9kmph

This is the bus:

I had a really bad experience on a HRCTC Volvo a few weeks back, it was scorching hot and i was travelling from Delhi to Chandigarh and i was expecting some relief from the heat in the bus, but as soon as we left delhi the AC stopped working, and the bus started vibrating like crazy, the rest of the journey, was completed in the horrible vibrating oven. When the conductor was asked to do something he said it is not his or the drivers responsibility. Even a 150rs a ticket, cheap A/C bus would have been better. i'll keep volvo as the last option from now on and will prefer to take a train.

Just reached Bangalore - Traveled in a KPN B9R between Coimbatore and Bangalore. The bus was KA-25-D-1 - it was about 2 years old, with about 5.66 Lakhs KMS on the Odo. The bus was in decent shape - not much dents or major damages on the body.

The bus arrived at Omni Bus Station (Coimbatore) at about 12.55 for a 13.00 departure. Two of us boarded from here, and the bus started off immediately after that - about 12.57hrs. The had lit an incense stick inside the bus - the fragrance was good, but the smoke was a cause of concern.

Our Next stop was the KPN office at Nanjappa Road - where we remained till 13.30hrs. After this we made another pickup at Gandhipuram (near Cross Cut Road), and we were back at Omni bus station!!! We finally started off from here at 14.00 hrs.

The bus took Sathy Road. From Annur, we turned towards Avinashi Road, and finally hit the highway. We had pickup at Avinashi. When we started, we had some 10 empty seats. We had another pickup at Chitode - the bus went inside the town to pick passengers. After Chitode, we had pickup at Bhavani as well.

The bus took the Bhavani-Mettur Dam-Thoppur route - we had pick up at Mettur Dam as well. After this pickup, all the 44 seats in the bus was full. We stopped for snacks at A2B near Dharmapuri (the one immediately after the Toll gate after Thoppur). The break was about 30 minutes long - about halfway through the break, another KPN bus came in and was parked right behind. When most passengers came back after eating, many people stood dumbfounded - trying to identify they bus! Both buses had similar graphics and the number was "1"!!

Traffic was really heavy after Dharmapuri - the ghat sections were clogged. Our speed reduced to a crawl at each ghat section. I was finally dropped at Silk Board, at 20.30hrs. Just 6-and-a-half hours after we actually started from Bangalore.

The bus made a hell lot of stops - for pick-ups and for sundry reasons. Some breaks were real long. So the actual running time would be about 5:30 hours. The driver maintained 110kmph (on my GPS) in the 4-laned sections, and where ever possible. Both the drivers were equally good.

The bus made a hell lot of noise from the rear axles - especially when going slow. The bus did show its age - but the interiors were in good shape.

Did you, by any chance, notice the road condition in Mettur route? Is it still in bad condition for cars?

That is the ultimate tribute to the vehicle's suspension!!!

I was in one of the back seats, so could not see the road well. But from the ride quality, I'd say the roads are average at the best. Mettur Dam to Thoppur is awful though - we did hit quite some rough patches. Heavy truck traffic adds to the woes.

I see no advantage in that that route for private cars, unless you need to visit some place on the way. The Salem route is better any day - the four lane road would atleast help save some time.