After booking tickets to go home for the
vacation, it was time to search for the return tickets. The night buses from my
place either did not have tickets or had seats only in the last row. I found
tickets in the newly extended Hindusthan bus as well as Kallada’s Hyderabad
buses. I decided to take the Hyderabad bus so that I’d reach home by midnight
and have a somewhat peaceful sleep. But did I get peaceful sleep? Read on...
March
10, 2013:
Like every time, I was reluctant to leave
home as the time came closer. But I had no choice. I had some baggage to carry
this time, and hence called an Auto home, to drop me at Kodungallur bus
station. There was a KSRTC bus waiting when I reached the bus station – that
was RNA164 of Thrissur. The bus looked tired, dirty and poorly kept. The bus
was repainted over a year ago, but the shabby work left the bus really bad looking.
The bus got crawling out of the bus station just past 1330hrs. The bus crawled
out and they stopped the bus outside the temple for some time – while a private
limited stop bus went ahead of us. We crawled out of the place – and kept
crawling all the time. We reached Irinjalakuda at around 1410hrs – the crew of
the private LS bus which overtook us at Kodungallur came and shouted at our
crew – they were upset with the KSRTC bus being so close to them. Our crawl
continued after that – for the first time, I was really upset sitting in a
KSRTC bus. After the entire crawl, the bus finally reached Thrissur at 1450hrs
– a good 1h20m for the 38km ride.
Just as my bus was getting into the bus
station, I got a call from Kallada enquiring about my whereabouts. I still had
15 minutes to go for the reporting time. I got off the bus and hurried to their
office near the bus station (Sakthan Nagar private bus station). I was boarding
from that office for the first office. It was a small place – around 5-6 chairs
for passengers to sit. Some three passengers were already waiting there for my bus. The guys at the office did not
even want to see my ticket. They were not interested in answering phone calls –
I seriously did not like the way they worked. After some time of waiting, a
tired but well kept Tempo Traveller came in for pickup. The vehicle was about
20 years old. I got into the van – we got moving at around 1510hrs. The
interiors were in good shape – I was surprised at the level of maintenance. The
engine was at ease even while the driver picked pace overtaking vehicles
continuously. We were dropped at the Mannuthy bypass office of Kallada, at
around 1519hrs. Just as I went into the office, the guy at the office checked
my ticket and wrote “3942” on my ticket. “3942” is the registration number of
the bus. The scheduled pick-up time for the bus was 1535hrs – we still had
quite some time to go. The office had a fairly good washroom – I was surprised
at that.
Time went past quite quickly. While waiting
there, the KPN B9R and the Kesineni B11R to Hyderabad went past. KPN did not
have a pick-up there. I spent some time talking to the guys at the office –
while talking to them, I heard the ever familiar multi-tone horn, and saw the white
beast of Kallada rushing in. The clock read 1543hrs – a delay of 7 minutes,
quite understandable for a bus coming in from Ernakulam. Boarding started immediately – about 6
passengers got in from here. My co-passenger was already there. A bollywood
slapstick comedy movie was being played. It took some effort to find a place to
keep my baggage – for some reason, I did not keep it in the baggage hold – I
still don’t know why I did so. I had to keep one bag below my seat. The bus
started off at 1548 – about 13 minutes late.
 |
| The bus - KL-45-H-3942. |
Soon after starting off, the driver meant
business – he was quite fast, but had a fairly safe style of driving. The bus
did not rattle even when going through those horrible roads near Kuthiran. The
interiors were very clean and looked fresh. Traffic was on the higher side –
even on a Sunday! The movie was too loud and boring – I decided to concentrate
on the road instead – four-laning works had commenced in the Vadakkenchery-Walayar
section – journeys would get faster once the four-laning is complete. They’ve
cleared trees and started levelling the land around the existing road. We
reached Palakkad bypass at 1657hrs. The Kesineni B11R was standing there for
pickup. It took some time for the passengers to get on board – the Kallada
office was on the other side of the road. We started after pick-up at 1705hrs.
By now the Kesineni had left.
The run after Palakkad too was eventless.
The movie got over now and the rear LCD was closed. Road works are progressing
at an above average speed in the section – I am excited! We pulled up at
Walayar RTO Check Post at 1733hrs. The attendant got off the bus and headed to
the checkpost office, while the driver got off for a tea. Many passengers too
used the break to stretch themselves and get some refreshment. No break was
announced though. The driver was busy on the phone talking to the second driver
and co-ordinating his pick-up location. It seems the second driver was not
updated that he had to get in on the day. The driver also called up the
Coimbatore office and updated them about our location. We started off from
Walayar at 1745hrs – a 12 minute break. We stopped at Ettimadai (near Amrita
campus) to drop a couple of passengers (1759hrs) and continued the run. The
second driver was picked up from Coimbatore bypass (just past the Pollachi
“exit”).
We reached the Neelambur office of Kallada
at 1832hrs (Neelambur is the place where Coimbatore bypass ends). The scheduled
time here was 1820 – we were 12 minutes late. I was surprised to see Kallada
having their office at such a remote place. The pick-up van was already waiting
for the bus there – no wasting time waiting for the pick-up to arrive (KPN
should learn from this). Quite a lot of passengers got off, and a similar
number got in. We started moving from there at 1836hrs – that was just a 4
minute halt! Once past Coimbatore, the attendant came around distributing water
bottles. He also gave a paper and asked all passengers to enter their name, age
and contact number – requirements of an All-India Permit bus. Another movie was
played now – this was a not-so-recent Tamil Movie. This was the first time I
saw non-Malayalam movies in a Kallada bus. The driver was speeding very
quickly, and kept proving that he means business.
We had a pick-up from Karumathampatty
(1848hrs). It got dark outside, and I focused on the movie now. I had seen this
movie a couple of times earlier, but did not get bored. The driver kept hitting
three digit speeds once on the four-lane section past Chengampalli. We turned
right under the flyover at Perundurai bypass, and headed straight towards the
fuel station. We reached the fuel station at 1942hrs – the crew did not even
switch on the lights since they did not want passengers to realise its a break.
I had to use the washroom – and hence rushed out. The Kallada Trivandrum B9R,
which leaves Madiwala at 1400hrs was already there at the pump – that is just
5:40hrs for the distance during the day! The refuelling was fairly quick – a
quick headcount was also taken. We started off from the pump at 1952hrs. The
crew had told passengers that we’d be stopping for dinner shortly. It was a bit
of a circus to get back to the highway – the town roads were all crowded
despite being a Sunday evening. We stopped at Hotel Aryas, on the highway, at
1958hrs, for dinner. The attendant announced that all passengers should get off
since they would lock the bus. The engine was shut down by the time I got off
the bus.
The service at the hotel was very lousy and
slow. For the first time, I utilised the entire dinner break just to have food
– I normally finish my food in 10 minutes and use the rest of the time to roam
around the bus a bit. By the time I finished my food and walked towards the
bus, the driver was already blowing the horn. We started off from the hotel at
2027hrs. We entered Chithode for a pick-up – it was quick. We got moving from
there at 2038hrs. The movie got over shortly afterwards. The screen was closed
and night lamps were switched on. I tried catching up some sleep. In the
meantime, we passed by the Saravana Bhavan hotel, past the “Vaigundam” toll
gate (near Sankari bypass). The Kesineni B11R and the KPN B9R from Ernakulam
were standing there. Our driver (the same guy who drove from Ernakulam) kept
maintaining three digit speeds all the time.
There was a bit of traffic at Salem –
mainly slow moving trucks. The bus just stopped and started at the Kallada
office on Salem bypass – at 2127hrs. I caught up some sleep now – the ride was
very sleep friendly – he was driving fast, but not rash – minimal use of horn
as well. I slept for some time – I remember passing Krishnagiri (recognised by
the recently re-directed flyover). I got a call from home asking my
whereabouts, and I fixed up my pick-up as well. I was asked to call as we pass
Hosur. I had another nice sleep (not really long) and woke up as we were
passing by McDonalds at Shoolagiri. I did not sleep after that. There were no
drops anywhere in the route. Even as the clock ticked past mid-night, traffic
at the Attibelle toll gate was high! In the opposite direction, there was
steady flow of KPN buses – mostly B9Rs and AC Sleepers. There was a minor
scuffle between our driver and the guy at the toll gate – the guy did not accept
our toll ticket (it was a multiple journey ticket) saying that it had expired.
After the fight, the bus was allowed to go through without having to pay for
another journey.
The bus stopped at Electronic city for a
drop at 0013hrs – interestingly, we were going below the flyover! My brother
called me at the very same moment to ask where I was – I updated my position
and told him that I’ll get off at Bommanahalli and asked him to wait there
instead of going to Silk Board. Both of us were elated. There was another drop
(near Singasandra) – did not notice time. A lot of passengers were now standing
on the aisle to get off – I was surprised seeing the number of passengers
getting off at Bangalore at such an odd hour. I was finally dropped at
Bommanahalli, at 0024hrs.
End remarks: The bus, KL-45-H-3942, was
delivered sometime in August 2012. It had about 2.02lakh kms on the odo. This
was my first journey in a KL registered B9R of Kallada – interestingly, all my journeys
in KL regd B9Rs were in white buses!! The bus was kept really well – it did not
rattle or make unusual noises. The exteriors had some dents – they were patched
up though. The crew were very co-operative and well behaved. Pillows were provided to all passengers - It was comfortable to lay down watching the movie with a pillow under my head. The end-to-end
ride took 8h41m – good timings for a bus that ran through Kerala during the
day. The section-to-section timings too are impressive – 2h49m for Thrissur (Mannuthy)-Coimbatore,
5h48m for Coimbatore-Bangalore (Bommanahalli) and 2h57m for Salem-Bangalore. I
loved the service – unsure if I’d repeat it though – since I reached home well
past 0030hrs, and had to get up the next morning at 0530hrs to go to office – I
was completely deprived of sleep. I had a nasty headache the next day and had a
horrific time in office. So maybe I’d take the service when I don’t have the
deadline the next morning.
Facilities:
Blankets: Yes
Water Bottle: Yes
Snacks: No
Ratings:
Maintenance (including cleanliness): 5/5
Punctuality: 4.5/5
Staff Behaviour: 5/5
Overall: 4.75/5
Will I take this service again? I am
unsure. It is a good option when I have the liberty to go a bit late to office
the next day. I’d surely suggest this service for anyone okay with reaching
late in the night.
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