Travel review on SETC new Ultra deluxe bus

Route: Bangalore-Pollachi (854UD)
Departure time: 8:00 PM
Expected arrival time at Pollachi: 5:00 AM.
Bus: TN01 AN 0668 of CBE depot. It is a 43+2 seater built on AshLey 12M.

In general, old Irizar TVS built buses were used in this route and because of this i tried the new UD to Bangalore from Coimbatore an year back. Even now i was not sure whether CBE depot will send the new bus allotted.

Reached Shanthi Nagar BS by 6:30 PM.. Had some snacks in A2B and roamed there to check the other departures of SETC.. My bus Bangalore-Pollachi guy reached the BS by 7:00 AM. TN01 AN 0668, An in-house built bus of SETC’s CBE depot came in for doing the job. I was really impressed with the interiors and the maintenance.

All seats till 32 were booked and conductor asked the unreserved to take the seats after that. Boarding started at 7:30 PM. Last 3 seats and few reserved seats were remain vacant. He took 2 Salem passengers as well. Conductor informed that bus will enter Salem alone and the next stop would be at Tirupur. He kept his promise too.

Bus started moving from bay at 8:05 PM.. But it took 10 mins for us to reach the nearby KPN office itself. we reached silk board by 8:45 PM and then reached electronics city by 9:05. Two people boarded here and the vacant last row seats were also filled. Reached Hosur by 10:05. We were running late by an hour or so. Meanwhile called Ram and informed that the bus is full and he is happy to board the new UD to Madurai. Started from Hosur by 10:15 PM.

I was so tired and dozed off soon after we left hosur. Somewhere around 12:00 midnight, bus stopped in the roadside motel. Almost none of them got down here. Bus stopped here for close to 15 min.

We reached Salem by 1:30 PM. Stopped here for 10 min and we started by 1:40 PM. We reached Tirupur by 3:50 AM and stopped for 10 min. 8 or 10 passengers got down here. Atlast, i was dropped in Pollachi BS by 5:05 AM. We were late by just 5 min.

Interiors:
Interiors were too good compared to the private built buses. Cushion in the seats could have been better. LED lights were fitted and each of them had 2 blue color LEDs as well. In night they switched on these blue LEDs and i really liked it.

Driving:
No rash driving and till Salem, absolutely no honking. in few occasions the gear shift was not proper. apart from this, he did a good job with the machine.

Conductor:
He is one of the worst conductors i have ever seen in my trips with TNSTC/Omni/Private buses.
Bangalore-Pollachi fare was Rs.375. I gave Rs.500.. He said “Ellarume, 500 rupaya kudutha naan enga irunthu change thara..” Without even waiting for my reply, he just moved out to issue tickets to others.. I took Rs.76 and asked him to give Rs.200.. This is what his reply is.. “You didnt give the change at the start.. I cant give the change now.. I have a calculation in mind about how much balance is pending..I’ll get the change and give them after the stoppage at motel”. I really didn’t understand the logic. I’m helping him with the exact change.. My co-passenger also complained about his behavior.

Few conductors will not talk good. But if you talk to them and give some details about old CTC/PRC/TTC, then they will share their greenish memories. I have seen this with many of the crews.

Overall, A beautiful experience(except the conductor) in this new bus from SETC-Coimbatore depot. This is my third good experience with CBE depot buses. First is with CBE-Kuttam Anandha paravai. Then CBE-Bangalore and now Bangalore-Pollachi UD. Anandha Paravai is still the best bet in Nellai-Coimbatore travel.

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Tags: SETC, Travel review

This entry was posted by TNSTC.

• January 30, 2014
• SETC, Travel review
• 4 Comments