[Journey Review] John Volvo B11R I-Shift Multiaxle Seater : Guwahati - Tinsukia

2:50:00 PM Biswajit SVM Chaser 0 Comments

It was the journey day on 28th Oct, 2018. I took an Uber Sedan at around 7 pm to Guwahati ISBT from my home, near Down Town. Guwahati ISBT is located at around 13 kms from my place, and I thought it would be to leave for ISBT early instead of facing last minute hurdles of on-road traffic. I reached ISBT departure terminal at around 7:30 pm, an hour ahead of scheduled departure of the B11R coach at 8:30 pm. As i reached the ASTC cum Under ASTC operation ISBT bay, I found the John B11R parked at its respective bay 29, as mentioned in the sms sent to me by redbus. I met my known crew, Mr Bidyut Pawan Goswami, who will be driving the coach to Tinsukia. As we had some time on hand, for departure, we had some chat between us, before putting my cargo luggage at the belly-compartment. 

I took my seat (seat no 1) on the first row of the coach, behind the driver's seat. The John Volvo B11R coach is fairly a new entrant in the fleet. Two such multiaxle coaches were inducted, earlier this year in John fleet. The interiors of the coach had a touch of nice ambience With a 2+2 seating layout, the coach had customized leather seats (without calf support). John had also provided customized head rest pillows on each seat for more comfort and luxury for the passenger, while being seated. Inflated rubber foot rests were also provided for each row initially, which are now only being installed on first two rows, only. The departure schedule was deferred to 08:45 pm, a 15 minutes delayed due to some reasons. After the boarding was completed, we left Guwahati ISBT at around 08:50 pm. With passenger pick ups done at Lokhra and Beltola, we approached Khanapara overbridge, the last pick up point before leaving Guwahati City. To the much caused, incovenience because of delayed passenger arrival for boarding, we got delayed at Khanapara. We finally left Guwahati City outskirts and Jorabat at 09:35 pm. An one hour delay within Guwahati from the standard departure time of 08:30 pm. 

Crossing the four lane hilly terrain on NH37, we were soon cruising on the plains, towards Jagiroad. The NH37 stretch from Guwahati to Nagaon is four laned, with repairable patches still existing. In absence of  toll collection, inspite of an existing toll plaza at Raha, the stretch of the four lane is hardly being taken care of. The four lane highway seemed bumpy and uneven. The driving seemed sedate and safe till now. A dubbed South Indian - Hindi movie was played on the coach. The on board head rest pillows provided were hard and they didn't match the ergonomic factor with the seats. I saw many passengers handing back the head rest pillows to the bus crew. John had put customized leather seats, replacing the usual factory fitted, Harita Seating. The leather seats seemed tough and stiff, which was straining my back. The inflated rubber foot rests on the first row was also minimizing the leg space, and i was feeling congested to keep my laptop back pack, which i prefer to keep in front of my seat, while i am seated in the front row of a coach, rather than putting it in the overhead luggage hatrack. 

The AC temperature was maintained at an optimum level. The premium AC coaches in this part of the country does not provide a blanket, so in case you feel cold inside the coach, you need to have your own blanket. At 10:22 pm, we reached Jagiroad and headed towards Nagaon. Crossing Nagaon bypass at 11:19 pm, the four lane NH37 now became a single lane road here onwards, with patchy repaired potholes. We continued on the single lane track, till Amoni (Nagaon), where we stopped for dinner / bio - break at Hotel Nelakantha, located besides NH37. While our B11R multiaxle reached the hotel parking, we were accompanied by Rayan Volvo B8R doing Guwahati - Duliajan (currently now on Guwahati - Silchar route), which was getting ready to leave for its destination, after its dinner break. I met my known crew on the B8R and exchanged greetings. Upon being asked about the out passenger occupancy, the crew said that the passenger flow on then route have been low since the inception of the service, and even they are reconsidering about the viability of the Guwahati - Duliajan route again. As we were gearing up to leave to Tinsukia, the Duliajan bound John Volvo B7R CRDI also joined us at the hotel parking. After half an hour of dinner break at Amoni, the B11R resumed its journey towards Tinsukia at around 12:15 am. 

The operator had shifted the usb mobile charging ports from the factory fitted centre position to the window side bottom, due to which the passenger next to the one on the window side finds it  inconvenient to plug in his / her usb cable for phone charging. The position of usb charging ports had to be changed because of the seating arrangement. Volvo provides the usb charging ports in middle of the factory fitted harita seats. 

As the B11R cruised on the NH37 highway towards Upper Assam, the road conditions remained deplorable on a single road with many stretches under construction for the upcoming four laning project work on NH37. I travelled on ASTC Volvo B11R I-Shift multiaxle, earlier this year in March. I found the road conditions better than the last time, with most potholes been repaired with temporary patch work. We crossed Kaziranga National Park Animal Corridor at around 01:15 am early morning. The NH37 stretch here is well maintained by the authorities due to tourists visits. We crossed Bokakhat at 01:40 am. I dozed off to sleep soon after crossing Bokakhat to wake up near Sibsagar at around 03:38 am. There was a passenger drop at Sibsagar bypass, as we headed towards Moran. Crossing Moran at 04:15 am, with another passenger drop we headed towards Dibrugarh. With under construction NH37, 4 lane in view, i hoped travelling hours will reduce between Lower and Upper Assam districts in days to come. We entered Dibrugarh outskirts at 04:55 am in the morning at dusk. The passenger drop was done at 'Thana Chariali' before heading towards Tinsukia. 

It was around 05:20 am, early morning with the sunrise and morning fog canopy, marking the onset of early winter mornings, and making a beautiful scenic environment, as we approached towards Tinsukia. The fog started to be denser as we left Dibrugarh outskirts after Lahowal. Childhood memories poured in, as i went into a flashback of days spent in the this part of the country in these beautiful landscapes of Upper Assam. We use to travel admist foggy conditions and the beautiful lush green tea gardens of Assam. I still remember the aroma of fresh processed tea garden leaves, as we use to pass through the tea garden factories. The enchanting memories were livened up again down the memory lane. while i kept on looking at the natural beauty of my native Assam. As time passed by, we entered New Tinsukia at around 06:05 am in the morning. It was time to get down, as i had booked my hotel at New Tinsukia. I got down near New Tinsukia railway station, after bidding a goodbye to the bus crew, Mr Goswami. The John B11R left for Digboi via Makum, its final destination.