I travel regularly between Alwaye(north of Cochin) and Bangalore. With most of my trips at short notice, trains are not option and hence I have to travel by bus.There is an assortment of private operators all of whom seem to be equally bad.
Latest trip was on SPS travels last week . The bus started one hour late from Alwaye(inexcusable since the bus only originates from Ermakulam 20 km "upstream"). Stopped at a very ordinary place for dinner(cleanliness was non existent) and although all the passengers had boarded long before the dinenr stop, the bus only seemd to go slower and slower as it approached Bangalore(on half empty roads) We could enjoy even two wheelers overtaking us! The bus guys also avoided the main NH between Salem and Bangalore apparently to avoid road tolls. The drivers seemed the least interested that there are passengers travelling, and the bus finally crawled into Madiwala at 0930 a good 2 1/2 hours behind schedule. They then announced that the bus wont go any further(it was to terminate at Kalaspalayam) leaving those of us who were to get down at the last stop high and dry and and with a expensive auto ride to suffer as well!
All along the attitude of the bus crew was shocking- they only seemed keen on taking refreshment breaks every two hours never mind the fact that half the pax had to go for work/interviews etc in the morning. They played a video, however the audio was not part of the package(soundtrack was audible only in the first couple of rows). The bus condition was just about tolerable!
Avoid these SPS guys unless you have unlimited time and patience and enjoy crawling through hosur road traffic at 9 AM in the morning . The best bet is the KSRTC(Karnataka) volvos. While not exactly the fastest, they stick to the highways and drive safely. Only problem is I cannot board at Alwaye and has to backtrack all the way back to Ernakulam. Sarma Transports was also not bad when I used them between Bangalore and Ernakulam, however again they are no great shakes for speed and you dont pay 500 bucks to travel at 40 km on good highways! However the bus was well maintained.
If anyone knows a reliable operator between Ernakulam and Bangalore who will reach Bangalore(Kalasipalayam or Majestic) before 0730 AM, please let me know.Of my last ten trips on an assortment of operators and buses(Volvo/Non Volvo) I managed to reach just once before 0730! Trains are the best especially the Sunday 5 PM train leaving Ernakulam which reaches Majestic at 0415 in the morning- a little too early but atleast you wont get late for work! However trains in summer are so heavily waitlisted it is next to impossible to get on one at short notice.