Your favourite travel app RailYatri has launched IntrCity SmartBus, the much awaited, first of its kind smart bus service. IntrCity SmartBuses have been specially designed to make bus travelers’ journey superbly comfortable and intuitive. To ensure that the passengers do not face any hassles during their bus journey, each and every crew member has been diligently picked after a thorough background check. Each IntrCity SmartBus is loaded with features such as Hygienic Toilet, Live CCTV/GPS, Free WiFi, Mineral Water, Clean Blankets and In-bus Entertainment which are sure to make our patrons’ experience nothing less than 5-star.
Mostly when you have to take long distance journeys – whether for vacationing with family or a business trip, what are the transportation choices that spring up in your mind? Trains, or maybe flights. Mostly trains because they fit well within your budget. And if you don’t get a confirmed berth or the waiting-list is endless? You don’t have a choice but to book a flight, or do what India does the best – adjust. In this battle of booking train tickets, if you’re lucky enough to reach the RAC level, you have to brave another warrior who has an equal claim on your RACed berth. Unfortunately, if you board the train with a wait-listed ticket, then you have to find your own (not so) sweet, (not so) comfortable corner to carry on with your journey. Mostly this corner is near the exit staircase of your bogie or the inter-space between washrooms. Huh, that’s so uncomfortable to even think of but as we just said, we believe ‘adjust’ is the ultimate word, hence we don’t even think of looking beyond. If you relate with the below image, you too are bitten by the ‘adjust’ bug.
Despite all this, boarding a bus remained the last option for most of you all and we are not surprised. As India’s preferred multi-model travel platform, we have been offering bus services over the last couple of years, and during our association with the sector, we were able to identify various issues because of which buses remained neglected. After finding and solving problems associated with train travel in India, now it was time to look at the way Indians traveled on buses, find follies and amend this high potential travel domain.
Why Buses?
Without any doubt, buses are economically more viable and are available for booking even at the last minute.
Really? Then why is it the most ignored segment?
The bus ecosystem in India has not matured enough to infuse your interest. We identified some of the core issues existing in this essential travel domain. We were of course helped by the negative feedback and mails from our users.
Listed below are some of the longstanding problems in the Indian bus ecosystem which left a prospective traveler double minded before booking a seat:
- Lack of facilities on-board
- Considered unsafe especially for long journeys
- Extremely uncomfortable for women, elderly and children during long journeys
- Family members of those travelling would have sleepless nights
- Untrained and misbehaved crew
- Unwarranted stoppages during the journey
- No washrooms
- Lack of proper customer care
- Misplaced, damaged or lost luggage
- Unscheduled departure and arrival
- What if bus breaks down during the journey
- Infotainment
IntrCity SmartBus by RailYatri | India’s First
Our first effort was to launch a bus service of our own. IntrCity SmartBus by RailYatri is completely owned and operated by us which gives us more control over the operations which in turn helps us make your bus journeys better than they ever were. To make travel, especially for women, children and the elderly more congenial, every IntrCity SmartBus comes with attached toilets. Safety features such as live GPS tracker and CCTV cameras are sure to give a boost of confidence to our valued customers. In addition to this, RailYatri is also extending a never before on-time arrival guarantee which comes with a clause of 50% refund if the SmartBus gets delayed by over 30 minutes.
Unmatched services that none other would’ve even thought of!
- On-time performance: Absence of timeliness is the biggest concern when it comes to bus travel. 98% of our SmartBus commence and arrive on time. Our passengers can track buses online, through the ‘Your Journey Page’. This page keeps travelers updated and informed about their trip. So hop on to our IntrCity SmartBus where we offer you ON-TIME performance experience. With a 12-level quality check, we ensure uninterrupted, scheduled bus journeys.
- Assured daily service: In the past, we felt bad when you complained about the bus operator cancelling the trip on the exact date of journey. While we really cared about your inconveniences we did not have the authority to instruct the operator to run the bus come what may. But, now that we our own bus service, we are ready to offer you a guarantee on daily service. If you have booked a seat, the bus will arrive – that is our promise.
- Non-stop services: Risks of journeying in bus increases manifolds if the bus makes unplanned stops to pick up extra passengers. We have a strict policy on this. Once the bus leaves its terminus, it will only make a few stops within the city and then run non-stop.
- Breakdown assistance: Bus breakdowns are a horrific experience, especially when it occurs in the middle of a forlorn highway. That is why we conduct detailed trials before any of our bus leaves its boarding point. We also keep a close eye on the health of the vehicle. So, there are hardly any chances of vehicle breakdowns. But, in exceptional instances, when you face such a problem we take the responsibility of reaching you to the destination with a minimum time lapse. When you board a RailYatri smart bus, your journey becomes our responsibility.
- Urinals inside coach: What makes train journeys so comfortable? Well, there are many facets, but one of the most important aspects is the presence of toilets in the coaches. On the other hand, while journeying in long distance buses you have to wait for the next refreshment break to answer the nature’s call. This can be a tough ask for the elderly, women and children. We mitigated this problem. All our smart buses come fitted with clean and hygienic in-coach urinals.
- Live bus tracking: When you hit the road on a long journey, many things might go wrong. So, your family members have every right to stay anxious. Well, you can pacify their anxieties by boarding a RailYatri Smart Bus. We offer you the facility of tracking your bus in real-time.
- Free Wi-fi: Internet is the necessity of life, even when you are travelling. We understand this, and that is why we offer free Wi-fi facility within the bus coach. So, browse at merry while you are on-the-go.
- CCTV within bus coach: Each of our bus comes equipped with CCTV cameras. And there is a responsible person monitoring each and every activity ongoing within the bus. Speaking on the Psychological level, we found that CCTV forms a big barrier for any criminal intent.
- Qualified and polite staff: We assure you two things: you would never face rude behavior from our crew members and our drivers would offer you a safe drive! How are we so confident? Well, we have handpicked the most experienced bus crew members after checking and verifying their credentials.
- Immediate support via WhatsApp: We have a 24X7 helpline, always open to take your calls and solve your problems during a journey. Furthermore, we have arranged for a special customer support mechanism through WhatsApp to bring in immediacy to the process. If you face any problems during the journey, just ping us and one of our team members will address the same in a jiffy.
- Other Amenities: Apart from comfortable seats and modern coaches, we offer you other facilities too. When you board a RailYatri smart bus, we instantly give you pillows, blankets and mineral water bottles. We have selected pick-up and drop off points keeping the passengers’ convenience in mind.
IntrCity SmartBus By RailYatri – Some Other Noticeable Features
- Neat and clean linen
- Soft pillows and cozy blanket
- Padded and comfortable recliner seats
- Fully air-conditioned coaches
- Mobile charging facility
- Tagged Luggage for theft protection
- In-bus entertainment
- Free water bottle(s)
The IntrCity SmartBus by RailYatri service is presently available on 14 cities across North and South India. In north, we are covering New Delhi, Punjab (Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Chandigarh), Himachal (Manali and Shimla), Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra and Noida) and in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad in South India. The seating capacity of IntrCity Smartbus varies from 36-42 which includes Sleeper & Seater and Sleeper only coaches.
You can book RailYatri smart buses, of course from RailYatri app or website. Apart from that you can also visit TravelYari, Yatra and Ixigo to book our buses.
So, when are you travelling with us? Presently we are offering great discounts on our bus bookings. If you have any other queries, please drop us a line on feedback@railyatri.in and we will get back to you at the earliest.
Bytheway, we’re soon launching the IntrCity SmartBus service on a number of new routes, so keep watching this space for more ‘smart’ updates!
