Bangalore BMTC Volvo City Buses- Timetable, route, airport transfer - eNidhi India Travel Blog

Bangalore BMTC Volvo City Buses- Timetable, route, airport transfer

This post tells you all you wanted to know about BMTC Volvo city buses.

Quick Notes: To
For route numbers and timing details click here [Post on Chennai Volvo City bus here]
New: Try this quick photo Quiz on BMTC Volvo

BMTC Bangalore B7RLE volvo city bus front view
When I showed the photos of these city buses to some of friends in Hyderabad who had not seen these buses, their initial reaction was something like “is it in India?” “It is a city bus – a??” “In Bangalore all city buses are like this??!!!”

Indeed, the comfort looks and performance a Volvo offers is not met by any of its competitors in the luxury buses segment. After huge success of Volvo B7R inter-city coaches Volvo launched B7RLE transit buses in late 2005 and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) was one of the pioneers to use them.
inside view of Volvo B7RLE city bus
The Vehicle body design is that of Volvo 8700 which is its European counter part. The 7 liter rear engine is probably too much for Bangalore’s roads and I feel Volvo could have considered B6R instead of B7R for intra-city buses (Both to restrict over speeding and increase fuel economy). The 38 seated coach has 50% of its seats at extremely low level and rest at an elevated position. The AC is nice and melodious radio complements the ambiance.
Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation BMTC Volvo coach another view
The driver has a rear view LCD screen with live feed from a camera. I believe this is an additional equipment incorporated by BMTC as this is not a standard fitment with B7RLE. The console has an LED screen which shows both system generated messages as well as messages relayed by control tower. A mike and an Ahuja audio system are obviously added additionally.
image of Bangalore city bus B7RLE volvo outside view

English speaking conductors are employed for these buses.

The ride quality is good. The price is obviously very high. (Minimum fare is Rs 15; say for Majestic to Corporation that’s 3-4 times non-Volvo buses). People have lots of money circulating in their hands these days and don’t mind shelling out in the name of luxury and comfort. BMTC is cashing on that very well.
ads displayed on BMTC volvo city bus Bangalore

BMTC’s full window advertising on some Volvo buses (See image) is fully transparent from inside.

Timings, Availability and Time Table

You can find the time table for all the Ordinary and REDboard buses here in the link below.:

(shared by a reader)
Update: Route 356C Timings (from KBS and Electronic City) here (Thanks VKT for the info).

BMTC Website has route numbers, number of trips and departure timings. There is also a SMS based locater service. Because of Bangalore’s traffic and other constraints it is probably difficult to give a precise time table as to this bus will be at this point at this hour this minute. You can use SMS based locater service (YI: Yelli iddira???) to predict how much more time a given bus may take to reach your boarding point. Despite the odds they are operating with reasonable reliability. Regular commuters will have a better idea on this.

You can avail BMTC’s elli iddeera (Where are you?) SMS based service to know the current position of various buses. To use this service you should know the route numbers and send an SMS to 9945634666 with YI routeNo direction. Route Numbers: V356C for Majestic (KBS) to Electronic City, V335E for KBS to Kadugudi, ITPL, V402B for KBS-Yelahanka,V500L for Banashankari to ITPL, V500K from Vijayanagara to ITPL, V2 for Majestic to J P Nagar etc. Direction can be U or D, for UP (towards city(KBS)) and DOWN (from city to far). Sample: SMSing YI V402B U to 9945634666 should return you location of Volvo that started from Yelahanka and heading towards Majestic Bus Terminus. Some more details here.

Related links: 2 Other blog posts on Volvo experience can be found [here] and [here] | My other post on Volvo Buses My Report on Volvo India plant in Hoskote

New: Try this quick photo Quiz on BMTC Volvo


Also read: Another hot review: Hyderabad Bangalore by Bus-Comparison of various operators
Read Why BMTC is performing better than its counterparts in TN and AP in this post

Update: KSTRC and BMTC have increased fares recently to collect money to increase infrastructure facilities and introduce more buses. Expect to see more volvos around. Happy riding...

Update: Starting 17th September 07, Chennai City will also have Volvo City buses. More information in this post.

Feb 2012 Update: Internet services inside Airport bound Vayu Vajra Buses
Above Photo sourced from internet

Check this: Video coach Local buses in coastal Karnataka |

35 comments:

  1. >> This hampers the visibility of passengers

    Regarding the above statement i have heard that it's made up of some poly vinyl glass (not exact). Which is transparent from inside but from outside you can see the ads.

    Confirm it..
    Keep Blogging...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nidhi, Thanks for providing my link in your post.

    It is true that inspite of the advertisements, it is transparent from inside. I'm not sure about what material the windows are made up of.

    Regarding the English speaking conductors; Since most of the travellers in 356C and 356M are techies, and most of them non-Kannadigas, it's best that conductors can converse in English. Otherwise, what the conductor is saying, the passenger can't understand. If you talk to the conductor in Kannada, he/she always responds in Kannada. I don't think it's meant to hurt/insult anyone's feelings.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Vishwas: Thanks for the info.

    @ Supreetha: Thanks for confirming the transparency.

    I'm not complaining about english speaking conductors... May be my sentence in the post was a bit offensive: will correct it soon

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi,

    I took these buses on my recent trip to Bangalore. It was a real pleasure going in them.

    Srivathsa

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Srivatsa...Good to know that you too enjoyed being taken for a ride...;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Sreenidhi:

    Thanks for your wonderful blogs on BMTC. The pictures and the associated comments make your blogs a most interesting read.

    You say that the BMTC ticket prices are higher than those in other city transport systems. I am not quite sure if indeed this is the case.

    My belief and gut feeling is that the ticket prices in the ordinary BMTC buses, i.e. the white and blue ones, are lower than those in Hyderabad buses, both in terms of the starting minimums and the subsequent stage price increments. I would be glad to stand corrected if you can quantify your assertion.

    It may be that BMTC prices are marginally higher than those in Chennai MTC for comparable buses. But then, the ordinary Chennai buses are rickety, with the old style accordion folding windows, i.e. no glass windows. But then, the prices are so low in Chennai MTC that you can't complain.

    Looking forward to your response.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Sarma,

    Regarding the price:
    Ticket fare from Kondapur to Paradise in Hyderabad: (15-20 kms): Rs 7 in ordinary bus, Rs 11 in Veera (delux bus). Min fare: Rs. 2

    Bangalore: From ISRO Layout to Majestic (Around 15 kms): Rs 9 (Only red board, no black board buses) Min is Rs 4 or 5 (I don't know the latest price. To Kadirenalli cross, which is 3 kms from ISRO layout it costs Rs 5 I guess)

    So the price is high. No doubt. But reasons for this also explained: High fuel price, good quality of buses etc...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ford Motor company owns the passenger car arm of volvo. It own the Jaguar brand and also part of Mazda.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yes. I have clarified that in my post. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  10. looks like the SMS does not at ALL.

    ReplyDelete
  11. URL for 356C Timings
    http://www.bmtcinfo.com/jsp/print.jsp?select=r&src=&des=&gflag=null&bmtcid=bmtc1241

    ReplyDelete
  12. VKT, Thanks for sharing information on timings. Do they have similar chart for other route numbers?

    Not sure about current status of SMS locator service. This post was written long back. I'll check again when I go to Bangalore next time.

    Thanks again.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Melodious music ???

    Crappy songs blaring inside the bus.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Well, melody being subjective no one can help. Individual preferences may vary.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi,

    For your kind information

    Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) & Karnataka Satate Road Transport Corporation are publishing

    TIME TABLES

    &

    TRAVEL PLANNER MAPS

    REGULARLY

    it is available in all main bus stations, main book shops

    Thanks
    Ravi

    ReplyDelete
  16. Yes Ravi, thanks for sharing...

    But is there a soft copy available online?

    ReplyDelete
  17. hi Shrinidhi,
    You can find the time table for all the Ordinary and REDboard buses here in the link below.:
    http://www.bmtcinfo.com/php/
    and Time tables for Vayu Vajra(Volvo Services with City) in the Link Below:
    http://www.bmtcinfo.com/english/volvo.htm
    and finally for Airport Services you can click on the Following Link
    http://www.bmtcinfo.com/english/bial.html
    also you can book for Airport transfers with Four flat Fares of Rs. 200/-, 150/-, 100/-, 80/- .
    http://www.viaworld.in/bdo
    I hope this is a very good info for all you getting in tch with Bangalore :)
    Have a Nice Time.

    ReplyDelete
  18. @ Blaze2Fame,

    Thanks for sharing the links. First one is quite useful.

    I think second one I have already included. last 2 are new, will update the post soon regarding that.

    Thanks again.

    ReplyDelete
  19. SMS service is not working at all... I tried for 335E twice with no response. I sent "YI V335E U".

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi Raman,

    Over an year has passed since this post was first written. I'm not staying in Chennai so not aware of exact reason for SMS not working.

    Will try to check on this (may be with a Volvo conductor) if anything is working.

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  21. yes the SMS service stopped working a year back and miss that very much as i was one of the biggest usesrs for that.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Great Post ...
    Any idea why the service was stopped ?
    Any pointers to who was behind the service (as in who provided the backend, tech support to BMTC)?

    ReplyDelete
  23. no idea.. I'm not in Bebgaluru since several year. Will try to check next time ....

    ReplyDelete
  24. Volvo city buses are recently introduced in Hyderabad but not in large scale. I stayed in Bangalore for 4 yrs and I traveled in Volvo city bus once. It was a nice experience. Currently I stay in Sheffield,UK. They also have Volvo city buses (even double deckers)similar to BMTC'S Volvo but the big difference is they have heaters instead of airconditioners and no conductors.

    ReplyDelete
  25. This site lets you track BMTC buses , including Volvo buses LIVE on google maps !!

    http://mapview.co.cc/bmtc/

    ReplyDelete
  26. hello there

    the services offerd from BMTC are amazing it is a request for BMTC to kindly start a service from Bangalore to bidadi for the BMTC volvo buses pls consider the same request.

    Thanking you

    Regards

    shanmuga

    ReplyDelete
  27. Can someone please tell me what bus (volvo) to take from white field to go to infantry road... i need to get to infantry road everyday by 915.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hi

    I put your question on twitter and Pavanaja sir was first to respond..

    http://twitter.com/pavanaja/status/12216674910

    Pls check http://www.bmtcinfo.com/uploads/Files/Vajra_route_List.pdf

    V335 EA will be the most relevant one for you

    Hope this helps

    ReplyDelete
  29. Chennai MTC has launched new Volvo services that is more commuter-friendly when compared to Bengaluru

    ReplyDelete
  30. How exactly they're commuter friendly? the buses are same everywhere

    ReplyDelete
  31. Nice discussion, and information on Bangalore BMTC and Airport transfer.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I am an employee in one of the IT company situated in ITPL. I have been put up in Kumaraswamy Layout. Hence I need to change two to three buses daily in order to reach ITPL. Inspite of the existing bus route 500w which runs from ISRO Layout to ITPL, which is infrequent and this bus runs as 500w only till some point and changes the board to 500c and I have never seen 500w run directly from ITPL, but I have seen many other bus routes which runs from ITPL to SILKBOARD. 500c which run only uptill Banashankari, Its very difficult to get a bus from Banashankari to Kumaraswamy layout. I find lot of buses from ITPL to Banashankari, Silkboard but i don't find many volvo buses to itpl, from kumaraswamy layout, or Kumaraswamy Layout to ITPL very frequently, even though there is a bus 500w, this route is very few in number. Hence I request BMTC to put some new volvo buses from Kumaraswamy Layout 1stage directly to ITPL. It will be very usefull not only to me but to many commuters who travel after 9:00PM and in the afternoon timings to ITPL from Banashankari and Banashankari to ITPL. I hope BMTC considers my request, it will be really helpful if the needfull is done.

    ReplyDelete

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