Conti travels belongs to one of the oldest coach operators in coimbatore ( may be in Tamil Nadu).its parent company ums was operating buses as early as 1930, s with steam powered buses and at one point they operated about 300 buses in coimbatore region. Conti travels coach services started in 1972 (circa) with regular air-conditioned coach services to Bangalore, later to cochin and calicut and later to other towns in Kerala. The Chennai was services started in 90’s (if not mistaken).
Staff : most of them are rude and sarcastic (something special to coimbatore), while the remaining few are really good (again something special to coimbatore).yes it’s black & white and nothing in-between.same applies for the booking staff .while some are excellent, others behave like the old air-India staff.
Booking convenience : no on-line ticketing (but they release sometimes - when booking is not full).for most times you have to travel all the way to their offices to book the tickets (costs time & money).when asked why ’on-line booking is not facilitated’ , the reply is - ’ not enough bookings’ . Tickets are also not that expensive (Volvo to Chennai costs Rs. 490/- while others charge 600 or more.
Bus quality : The buses are well maintained. They have a couple of Volvo’s and recently launched the new isuzu to Chennai. The isuzu bus is well built and interiors are good and has more headroom, aircraft like ambiance and no annoying steps towards the seat entry. Seats on most of their buses have always been comfortable with ample leg space (6 footers will have no problem).but the luggage rack is always loaded with some parcels or cartoons and for the passenger very less or none is left.also the bus has a loud engine noise and very loud horn.
Main boarding points : The best thing about conti is their boarding points, be it coimbatore (ums bus station) or Chennai (egmore-hotel ashoka) or Bangalore (near residency road).one doesn’t need to spend harrowing time at those travel bus stands (especially in Chennai where urine stench is alarmingly high).in chennai the bus ply along the mount road making it easy for people living in south east part of the city. (one can save at least 100 bucks).
Recommendations : i would recommend conti only for people who can take a little time/pain to travel to their offices for bookings.also for the one’s who are ok with their il-mannered drivers .it is not ideal for families and older people.