BY:T L Prasanna Venkatesan
I was to board the KSRTC Meghadoota service on the 27th of November at the Shanthinagar bus stand in Bangalore to Chennai. The bus that was scheduled to start at 10:17 PM, did not arrive at the bus stop till 11:00 PM. The bus that managed to arrive so late from the depot had mechanical problems.
The driver reported that the bus could not pick up speed and possibly not go beyond third gear. Apart from this, the bus also had very bad air conditioning, which added to the frustration and fury of the passengers.
The angry passengers demanded that the conductor give it in writing about the condition of the bus and also regarding the late arrival, so that action could be taken against the concerned through the Consumer Court. The conductor, who was not ready to do so, directed the driver to drive the bus back to Majestic bus stand.
It was 12:00 AM by now, and the passengers were stranded at the main bus stand.
While the depot manager, the only living creature at the Majestic bus stand at that hour, managed to approve the use of a higher class service bus for this journey, but another problem reared its head- the driver had no experience of driving a Volvo bus. Hence the driver had to have a practice session at the bus stand. The driver, who was ecstatic about handling a new Volvo, confidently agreed to drive us to Chennai.
Thus, that day the passengers united for a common cause, and proved that a voice raised by all of us together can jolt the officials into action and force them to provide better services to the public.
Source: Citizen mattersMy point here is : Isnt it a policy of Volvo that only Volvo trained drivers can drive a Volvo bus in India? Comments please... In the meantime, click HERE to book your VOLVO tickets online
6 comments:
Volvo Buses are a precise piece of mechanism & it needs practice to drive them. though it looks very easy...but it is entirely different for the driver...mainly due to the length, height & yes...the rare engine...
We( Me & My Friend) term this bus as "DEVIL"..... this thing comes so close to you in the highway & there is no noise of it..... i have had many such experience...flip second....i can see a big beast beside me...& it is this volvo bus....
i usually travel by volvo bus & KSRTC r always maintained better than other private operators or other transport agencies....
the major problem usually drivers find is the tweak in the crowded roads.... other places they can drive it easily..... also while taking turns...the regular buses can take a 90 deg turn....but this beast has to go some what further & take a long cut....or else.... it is going to hit some poles...in between.....i had that bad experience.... with APSTDC......
driver managed to take a left turn in amidst crowded road...
& bus.... mid portion.... touched with the pole!
Always.....don't take risk....
after the KSRTC incident....where in almost 10 ppl lost their lifes...i feel insured..... & also feel that such buses r not fit for indian road condition....
think about this!
Hi Raghav,
Yes in the recent past, there have been 2-3 major accidents involving Volvo buses in India. But do u know how many non-volvo bus accidents go unreported?
In my opinion, it all boils down to the driver. Volvo should always insist on having only their own trained drivers for driving theses buses. Even on the mumbai-pune route, i have seen relatively young unexperienced drivers driving these buses, specially Neeta ones!
Neeta!....dirtiest of all.....i got totally scared...half way after they touched the express high way....& were nearing.... lonawala from pune....
i don't want to take any risk with NEETA guys.... any more....
bad buses.... if some volvo company guy sees it....he will surely....cry....seeing the bad condition....
the bus KSRTC bus from bangalore to chennai...(VOLVO) airavat... hit a regular.... bus(KSRTC) coming from tirumala....
it was a head on collision...as the volvo driver could not control...the bus...as there was a deep trench in the road....road work is under way....there....both buses hit.... & volvo driver....along with 8 passengers... 4 rows behind driver seat.... died instantly.... & there was bloody blow...& remaining 70% had severe injuries....
where as in the normal bus...there was 1 death.... & few injured....i don't know....how the other bus driver managed this trick.... volvo's may be looking all good...but there r lot of problems......most of the buses...which r like yr old...have cooling problem...or their AC's r tampered to avoid fuel consumption...
there is a leakage & constant dripping of water in most of the buses during rainy season...
i was going through this blog....& i am able to see lot of info...on volvo..... gr8 site... all the best....do publish more.....
I am glad you liked this blog. More stuff coming up in the future
I suggest this blog start a rating service of Volvo services in India so that users can vote and see which ones are good.
Excellent blog ,kudos to you for this blog.
I have one point on this blog post ,you cant expect everything to go in your favour buddy ,only because it is KSRTC you will have a replacement bus ,if it is others dont even dream about it ,you should be first thankful you got a higher class bus for replacement.
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