Thrissur to Mangalore: KSRTC Airavat Club Class, again!

Booking the KSRTC Airavat Club Class was a no-nonsense decision - the timings and fares were the decisive factors. I wanted to try one of the private operators - but put off that plan looking at their fares and stuck to my original plan of booking the Airavat Club Class itself. The ACC had perfect timings for me - both at Thrissur and at Mangalore.

June 30, 2019:
It was a busy day at home - we had a family function at home, and TW was leaving to her home later that afternoon. It was a sentimentally charged day - and quite physically tiring as well. I left home around 2000hrs - my bus departs from Thrissur at 2240hrs. The last bus from my bus was at 2030hrs, from what I knew. I had traveled by that bus a few years ago. I was not sure if it still ran, though. My brother dropped me there at around 2020hrs - an ordinary bus to Thrissur was departing at that time. I decided to take the risk and waiting to see if another bus turns up. In the meantime, another passenger joins me - the numbers slowly increased. A person waiting there informed me that the next bus was at 2050hrs - and he was right.

The bus turned up on time, departed on time, and slowly (not the usual private bus style of driving) moved to Thrissur. The crew were very jovial and friendly - they helped passengers with stops and even kept saying that the bus would go to 'Vadakke stand'. I got off near the KSRTC bus station in Thrissur. I was at the bus station by around 2200hrs - had a lot of time to spend until 2851 returns from Ernakulam to take me back to Mangalore! Yeah! I had arrived in the very same bus that morning. Thrissur KSRTC bus station is a terrible place to be in on weekends - and that day was no different. Thankfully it didn't want - which helped matters a bit.
The bus after dropping me at Mangalore..

My bus turned up at 2246hrs - 6 minutes behind schedule. The bus was not taken to the platform - they completed boarding near the exit gate itself. The bus was fairly full already. We departed at 2254hrs - about 14 minutes behind schedule. I was hoping to sleep well - but for some reason, I struggled to sleep. Meanwhile we stopped at Kunnamkulam to pick a passenger (2322hrs) and continued. The bus was sent through the Naduvattam-Ponnani-Kuttipuram route due to road works at Edappal - this added to the run time, since the diverted road was not very wide enough to maintain pace. I remember seeing the bus take the bypass at Kozhikode. My co-passenger was alighting at Kannur, so the bus would've gone to the bus station for sure.

I slept quite well after Kozhikode bypass - vaguely remember the crew calling out for Kasaragod passengers. I woke up just at the bus stopped at Thokkuttu (0545hrs). The next stop was pumpwell (0553hrs), then Kankanadi (0556hrs), Jyothi (0558) and Lalbagh (0604hrs) - by now the crew were busy collecting back blankets, and waking up a few passengers who were still asleep. The bus finally dropped me at the KSRTC Bus Station in Bejai at 0606hrs - about 31 minutes late. Good timings considering the extra distance covered due to diversions.

Remarks: The bus was KA-57-F-2851 - the same bus as the outbound. Commenting on the crew or the bus is irrelevant now. The service was as good as the outbound - the crew were polite and friendly. The run time for this trip was 7 hours and 12 minutes - almost an hour less than the outbound. Nice trip again!

Amenities:
Blanket: Yes
Water: Yes
Snacks: No
Charging Point: Available, worked.
Entertainment: Available, not used

Ratings:
Maintenance: 5/5
Cleanliness: 5/5
Driving: 5/5
Crew behaviour: 5/5
Punctuality: 4.75/5 [Considering the diversions]

Overall: 4.95/5

Pros: Value for money, Comfortable travel
Cons: Nothing really!

Will I take this service again?
Its a great choice for that route.

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