I have had the opportunity of traveling by KSRTC Volvo service to Hyderabad and Pune several times and the misfortune of returning by either private operators or other state road transport corporations. Each time, KSRTC has proved to be timely, reliable, courteous and user friendly.
In my recent trip to Pune, I had the convenience of booking my ticket online ( and also cancelling it if required), getting a free travel in any BMTC bus to the KSRTC bus stand at the time of boarding. The bus in itself was a clean, well maintained and most importantly, bug free. The air conditioner was noise free, blankets were Raymond and the water was original McDowell’s.
The staff was courteous, well mannered and did not brag about the travel time, time of arrival etc unlike private operators. The bus departed on time at 17:30HRS per schedule and reached Pune before time at 07:00HRS next morning.
The return journey was in a very sharp contrast to the one mentioned earlier. The bus came to the travel agent’s place an hour after the scheduled time. All the passengers had to wait in the so called lobby and that was just an open space outside a hotel with no roof on our heads. Pune sun was scorchingly hot. The staff did not open the door till 10 minutes before departure ( to save diesel and a/c I suppose), and even passengers who requested entry were told to wait.
Then came the real part. A rattling a/c grill, some local brand of water ( and that too upon asking), 4 staff members in the "Cabin" talking loudly to each other all the time. As the bus arrived late, it started late too. Not just that, it stopped at Katraj, Karad, Kolhapur and Belgaum to pick up passengers and each stop was more than 30 mins by the roadside.
Whew.... I was tired by the time we reached Belgaum.
So you have the picture, right....
One thing I forgot to mention here. The ticket from Bangalore to Pune was 917.00 and the same from Pune to Bangalore (Sharma Travels, and lemme clarify here that there were no middlemen involved. The ticket was purchased at the office itself) was 1333.00.
So to top it up, KSTRC rules.....