September 13, 2019:
I had set a target of returning to Bengaluru before its too late in the night - It was already past 1400hrs, and I still hadn't taken my lunch. The MTC bus I had gotten into from Porur slowly rolled into CMBT, at Koyambedu, Chennai. I looked around searching for a restaurant to have my lunch - I finally headed to Sangeetha's for lunch. As I waited for my lunch to be served, I logged into various booking websites to find a bus for my return to Bengaluru. I wanted a sleeper bus - but none of them had lower berths available, and even those that had, it was all double berths. I finally decided to take a seater bus instead - I decided to pick a new operator this time, and chose RKK Travels for this journey.
RKK Travels comes from a very humble background - reportedly started by a Volvo bus driver, this operator has plenty of options on the Chennai-Bengaluru route - and all of them were Volvos! They've been adding new buses off late - they picked up a lot of older buses from another operator - almost all of them were in great shape.
I reached their pick-up point outside Koyambedu omni bus terminus well before the departure time of my bus. I found it hard to find their office initially - the office was located on the first floor of a building, and there were no signage on the lower level! I spotted this office only after I crossed over to the other side of the road - I found some shade on that side, and waited there for my bus. One RKK Volvo came first - that wasn't my bus. I hadn't received any message from the operator with details of the bus - however, I was joined by some more passengers taking the same bus.
A red-and-white coloured Volvo B9R, KA-01-AF-5695, rolled in about 10 minutes before the departure time of my bus. The crew began boarding soon later - by now, I received an SMS with the details of my bus, and a note that they wouldn't be offering tracking service on that day. The interiors were really clean and well-kept. We started off at 1603hrs - three minutes late. The bus was about one third occupied. The next pick-up was at Maduravoyal (1617hrs), and then at Poonamalle (1638hrs). Traffic was on the opposite direction, and hence we could maintain good pace. We got to Sriperumbudur toll by 1700hrs, picked a passenger and continued. I was really tired by the long day and the heat - I dozed off quickly.
I slept quite well, and woke up only as we were nearing Vellore. We stopped after Vellore flyover (1835hrs) to pick passengers. I slept again, and continued sleeping till the bus pulled in to a hotel for a break - at Hotel Sai Akshayam (1930hrs), near Vaniyambadi. I was a little hungry - and headed to the hotel to have something light, and washed it down with a Coffee. We started off from there at 1951hrs - another bus on the same route had joined as we were pulling out from the hotel. The driver was really quick on the highway - but the driving was really balanced and stable. We got to Krishnagiri by 2033hrs, turned to the highway and rushed towards Bengaluru.
Traffic was on the lower side, and remained so as we rushed towards Bengaluru. The traffic on the other side was high - plenty of vehicles were leaving the city! We made a brief halt at Hosur to drop a passenger (2120hrs) and continued to Bengaluru. There was quite a bit of traffic at Attibele - we lost close to 10 minutes in traffic here. We dropped a passenger after the toll gate (2138hrs), and continued to the city. I was in a confusion whether I must get off at Electronic City or proceed to Silk Board. GMaps showed traffic pile up near Silk Board, and I made a split second decision to get off at Electronic City. The bus rolled into Electronic City at 2156hrs - about 16 minutes behind schedule.
Remarks: The bus, KA-01-AF-5695, was kept in great shape - the paint finish was really outstanding. The bus had clocked about 3.21 Lakh kilometres - too less for a bus of that age (about 3 years old) - I believe the bus was in 'storage' for a while. The interiors were in really great shape - seats had fresh upholstery, fresh blankets were provided and the interiors appeared very fresh. The driver was excellent - very balanced driving and maintained great pace. The attendant was very helpful, and called out stops much earlier. Overall a great journey!
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: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
Pros: Great Service, Excellent crew.
Cons: Nothing specific
Will I take this service again? Absolutely
I had set a target of returning to Bengaluru before its too late in the night - It was already past 1400hrs, and I still hadn't taken my lunch. The MTC bus I had gotten into from Porur slowly rolled into CMBT, at Koyambedu, Chennai. I looked around searching for a restaurant to have my lunch - I finally headed to Sangeetha's for lunch. As I waited for my lunch to be served, I logged into various booking websites to find a bus for my return to Bengaluru. I wanted a sleeper bus - but none of them had lower berths available, and even those that had, it was all double berths. I finally decided to take a seater bus instead - I decided to pick a new operator this time, and chose RKK Travels for this journey.
RKK Travels comes from a very humble background - reportedly started by a Volvo bus driver, this operator has plenty of options on the Chennai-Bengaluru route - and all of them were Volvos! They've been adding new buses off late - they picked up a lot of older buses from another operator - almost all of them were in great shape.
I reached their pick-up point outside Koyambedu omni bus terminus well before the departure time of my bus. I found it hard to find their office initially - the office was located on the first floor of a building, and there were no signage on the lower level! I spotted this office only after I crossed over to the other side of the road - I found some shade on that side, and waited there for my bus. One RKK Volvo came first - that wasn't my bus. I hadn't received any message from the operator with details of the bus - however, I was joined by some more passengers taking the same bus.
A red-and-white coloured Volvo B9R, KA-01-AF-5695, rolled in about 10 minutes before the departure time of my bus. The crew began boarding soon later - by now, I received an SMS with the details of my bus, and a note that they wouldn't be offering tracking service on that day. The interiors were really clean and well-kept. We started off at 1603hrs - three minutes late. The bus was about one third occupied. The next pick-up was at Maduravoyal (1617hrs), and then at Poonamalle (1638hrs). Traffic was on the opposite direction, and hence we could maintain good pace. We got to Sriperumbudur toll by 1700hrs, picked a passenger and continued. I was really tired by the long day and the heat - I dozed off quickly.
 |
| The bus: KA-01-AF-5695 |
I slept quite well, and woke up only as we were nearing Vellore. We stopped after Vellore flyover (1835hrs) to pick passengers. I slept again, and continued sleeping till the bus pulled in to a hotel for a break - at Hotel Sai Akshayam (1930hrs), near Vaniyambadi. I was a little hungry - and headed to the hotel to have something light, and washed it down with a Coffee. We started off from there at 1951hrs - another bus on the same route had joined as we were pulling out from the hotel. The driver was really quick on the highway - but the driving was really balanced and stable. We got to Krishnagiri by 2033hrs, turned to the highway and rushed towards Bengaluru.
Traffic was on the lower side, and remained so as we rushed towards Bengaluru. The traffic on the other side was high - plenty of vehicles were leaving the city! We made a brief halt at Hosur to drop a passenger (2120hrs) and continued to Bengaluru. There was quite a bit of traffic at Attibele - we lost close to 10 minutes in traffic here. We dropped a passenger after the toll gate (2138hrs), and continued to the city. I was in a confusion whether I must get off at Electronic City or proceed to Silk Board. GMaps showed traffic pile up near Silk Board, and I made a split second decision to get off at Electronic City. The bus rolled into Electronic City at 2156hrs - about 16 minutes behind schedule.
Remarks: The bus, KA-01-AF-5695, was kept in great shape - the paint finish was really outstanding. The bus had clocked about 3.21 Lakh kilometres - too less for a bus of that age (about 3 years old) - I believe the bus was in 'storage' for a while. The interiors were in really great shape - seats had fresh upholstery, fresh blankets were provided and the interiors appeared very fresh. The driver was excellent - very balanced driving and maintained great pace. The attendant was very helpful, and called out stops much earlier. Overall a great journey!
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: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
Pros: Great Service, Excellent crew.
Cons: Nothing specific
Will I take this service again? Absolutely
Comments