September 09, 2014:
The first thing on my mind as I walked out of the conference hall in JSS Hospital was to reach Bangalore as soon as possible. I took an auto to the Suburban Bus Station. I had to collect my bag from the hotel I was put up in Mysore - so collected my baggage and headed back to the bus station. As I walked into the bus station, I saw an Airavat Club Class of Bangalore Depot-4 rushing towards the Bangalore Platform. The bus was the first Multi-axle bus of Karnataka RTC - KA-01-F-9133. I walked as fast as I could with the baggage towards the platform. As I reached the platform, the conductor was busy shouting Bengaloor Bengaloor Bengaloor!
The bus was working Kozhikode-Bangalore day service schedule that day - I guess the regular bus had gone for maintenance. The bus wasn't very crowded - just about 20 passengers or so. I headed towards the rear and took a seat in the rear half of the bus. The interiors seemed worn out - the bus was about 4 years old, and the light shade of upholstery had born the brunt of continuous usage. The bus missed its rear LCD screen as well.
We started from Mysore Suburban Bus Station at 1630hrs with around 24 passengers on board. The conductor came around and issued tickets - it set me poorer by Rs. 300. I confirmed with the conductor that the bus would drop me at Shantinagar - he replied positive. The driving was typical Bangalore division style - lug the engine as much as possible, and stick to the same gear irrespective of speed. The bus maintained constant pace as far as possible. A Bollywood movie was played in the AV System. I left my phone to charge for sometime, and dozed off.
The driving was stable throughout - except for the lugging, the style was good. There was nothing specific to mention through the journey. We passed NICE Road Junction around 1859hrs. We made a stop at Kengeri to drop a passenger (1905hrs) and continued towards Bangalore. The typical evening traffic in Bangalore made us crawl into the city - it was bumper-to-bumper traffic and we could reach Satellite Bus Station only by 1934hrs. The bus did not enter the bus station - just stopped on the main road to drop passengers. The bus took the flyover straight to Corporation circle, and finally dropped me at Shantinagar bus station at 1954hrs. 3h24m end-to-end (only 3h04m till Satellite bus station). I took a BMTC Volvo from Shantinagar and headed home,
End Notes: The bus was KA-01-F-9133 from Bangalore Central Division, Depot-4. The old lady had clocked about 9.56 Lakh kms - she has been on almost all the routes that KSRTC operates on. The maintenance was above average - there was a bit of rattling from the rear suspension set-up. The interiors weren't very clean - lots of spots on the upholstery and the roofing. The rear LCD screen was missing as well. The driving was above average - the driver lugged the engine at a lot of instances. The driving was very controlled though - a stable speed with no attempts to overspeed.
Amenities:
Blanket: No
Water: Yes
Snacks: No
Charging Point: Yes (On throughout)
Entertainment: Yes (A movie played)
Ratings:
Maintenance: 3.5/5
Cleanliness: 4/5
Driving: 4/5
Crew behaviour: 5/5
Punctuality: No Ratings
Overall: 4.5/5
Will I take this service again? There is no better option in this route than KSRTC!
The first thing on my mind as I walked out of the conference hall in JSS Hospital was to reach Bangalore as soon as possible. I took an auto to the Suburban Bus Station. I had to collect my bag from the hotel I was put up in Mysore - so collected my baggage and headed back to the bus station. As I walked into the bus station, I saw an Airavat Club Class of Bangalore Depot-4 rushing towards the Bangalore Platform. The bus was the first Multi-axle bus of Karnataka RTC - KA-01-F-9133. I walked as fast as I could with the baggage towards the platform. As I reached the platform, the conductor was busy shouting Bengaloor Bengaloor Bengaloor!
 |
| KA-01-F-9133 (photo from archives) |
We started from Mysore Suburban Bus Station at 1630hrs with around 24 passengers on board. The conductor came around and issued tickets - it set me poorer by Rs. 300. I confirmed with the conductor that the bus would drop me at Shantinagar - he replied positive. The driving was typical Bangalore division style - lug the engine as much as possible, and stick to the same gear irrespective of speed. The bus maintained constant pace as far as possible. A Bollywood movie was played in the AV System. I left my phone to charge for sometime, and dozed off.
 |
| The ticket - Rs. 300 for about 144kms |
End Notes: The bus was KA-01-F-9133 from Bangalore Central Division, Depot-4. The old lady had clocked about 9.56 Lakh kms - she has been on almost all the routes that KSRTC operates on. The maintenance was above average - there was a bit of rattling from the rear suspension set-up. The interiors weren't very clean - lots of spots on the upholstery and the roofing. The rear LCD screen was missing as well. The driving was above average - the driver lugged the engine at a lot of instances. The driving was very controlled though - a stable speed with no attempts to overspeed.
Amenities:
Blanket: No
Water: Yes
Snacks: No
Charging Point: Yes (On throughout)
Entertainment: Yes (A movie played)
Ratings:
Maintenance: 3.5/5
Cleanliness: 4/5
Driving: 4/5
Crew behaviour: 5/5
Punctuality: No Ratings
Overall: 4.5/5
Will I take this service again? There is no better option in this route than KSRTC!
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