Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Are all KPN Buses safe to travel?

Recently I happened to travel from Karaikudi, Tamilnadu to Bangalore in KPN travels. The bus started from karaikudi around 8:30 pm. The journey looked smooth in the beginning. But around 12:15 am the bus stopped in the middle of some deserted place. The engine was still on. There was nothing around except few trees. The only thing we could see is a railway gate far away. To start with I felt that it was OK because stopping in the middle was common in KPN buses. 45 mins had passed away but the bus was still there. I felt something was wrong and told my friend Vignesh to check what was happening. He went and tried to open the cabin door, It was locked. He banged twice on the door but nothing was happening. Then, he came back to his seat. We decided to wait for another 15 mins. Most of the people in the bus were sleeping only few thought something was wrong but were still hesitant to find out what it was? Only one lady in the front got up and started banging the cabin door from where there was no reply. Looking at this me and Vignesh felt something is really wrong. We started banging the door hard. At last the cleaner guy opened the door. He looked so tired and sleepy, he dint even know that the bus was on a halt. Further to our surprise we found the driver sleeping on the seat. We tried to wake him but failed. We realized that the driver and the cleaner were drunk. We dint know what to do for a while. Then we called up the KPN customer care. They wanted to talk to the driver who we could not even wake up.
Meanwhile 2 people on a bike where passing by. We stopped them to find out the place where we were. We were shaken when they told that they saw the driver in a bar in Karaikudi. The 2 people woke up the driver. The first thing the driver said was
"This is not my bus and I dont know who you people are".
We were shocked to hear this. Then, people told to switch the engine off, for which the driver replied its off only. We pour water on the drivers face. The KPN customer care told to somehow manage till Salem with the drunken driver and then we will provide an alternate driver. It was a 3hrs journey from that place to Salem. We had no choice, we decided to keep an eye on the driver while he was driving. We reached Salem safely. The KPN authorities denied an alternate driver as they stated the drunk driver has brought us safely till Salem. We were not in a position to argue as many people wanted to reach Bangalore soon. Then we traveled with so much fear. The bus stopped in Adayar Anandha Bhavan near Krishnagiri. We got another driver there. Then, at last we reached Bangalore safe around 9:45am. The bus was late by 3 hours. It was a dramatic experience. The only thing the KPN authorities did was to call every 2hours asking where the bus was.

13 comments:

Vijesh said...

Its never ever safe to travel. Once I traveled from Bangalore to Salem, it was a volvo. when ever the bus starts to accelerate it started to vibrate like hell, many were annoyed. When the bus stopped for a break, we inquired the driver, of what the problem was, then he says the one side sock observer balloons are gone in the bus, and he was taking it to Salem for service. So instead of going alone, he is taking passengers with him. I was like WTF

suresh said...

Apart from not safe, the workers there were arrogant in chennai, until jayalalitha came. She had put them in place by not letting them to enter city as other buses. The buses used to be of good quality earlier, but now it has degraded. Nowadays, ksrtc buses are better than this private run bus.

VV said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mr. R said...

schmucks..he should have got some stone treatment instead of water.. how come he was allowed to drive till salem and the cops were not informed ..is it not 'drunk and drive' ??? not only he poised threat to lives of 30+ brave souls inside who risked their lives to reach blr(dont know wat they acheived by this), the bus also was threat to other vehicles/pedestrians outside like a misguided missile

Suman Ramachandra said...

.i know..totally terrible experience..

Vignesh Mohanakrishnan said...

@Tom
3 more things left out..

1. After waking up the driver he said "I didnot drive the bus till here"
2. Another Shocking info that he said was "He was new and don know the correct route"
3. Funniest comment made by the new replaced driver (replaced at Hosur).
He stopped right on top of the Silkboard Flyover and said "Madiwala stop.. Madiwala ppl get Down.." I couldn stop laughing.. and said .."Even the replaced driver is not STEADY"

@ the real crapaholic
The ;location where bus stopped didnt have even proper light.. we were not able to see a soul outside.. Then how can we inform police of "Drink and Drive"
We knew we wont get spare driver so the only solution was to continue with this driver.. We were with him till he was better

GP said...

should have been an adventure trip!! still so horrible that so many people's lives were at stake, and the travels did nothin but call the passengers and confirm if they are safe!! They should be sued..seriously!

Unknown said...

all the passenger who travelled in the bus r very lucky that nothing happened seriously....

lakshmi said...

Tom i read the blog very late..i could realise how tensed each and every one of you would be....Thank god that nothing happened seriously...I am very happy that there was not even a word like we went to our friend's marriage in the blog....that showed you people were not tensed or irritated for coming to my place...

Tom Praison said...

@lakshmi
Hmm... We enjoyed the place.. Just wanted to stick to the topic..

vinoraga said...

travelling in india is unsafe

Subramanian R said...

Hi,

I have one doubt, u said the bus started at 8:30 from Karaikudi and stopped at 12:15 AM. Then the two people on bike who came by said that they saw the driver in Karaikudi bar. Were the bike riders driving for 4 hours ? from Karaikudi?

தக்குடு said...

I hope it was a great journey in your life .... :)