I will be leaving for Bangalore very shortly from Pune today, ie, 4pm bus on 19th Feb and returning back tomm, ie, 8:30pm bus on 20th Feb.
I have on earlier occasions travelled on VRL bus lot of times. Read the reviews here - VRL Reviews.
I shall update this post once Im back from the 1700km return trip.
I was about to book the tickets online, but then went to the VRL Office for the same. Have booked Seat No1 (behind driver) for both the journeys. Watch out for this post..
EDIT:
Here is the review of my Pune - Bangalore - Pune trip.
1. While going... The bus was to come at 4pm, and it did.
4.10pm - We left the Swargate office of VRL at heading towards Katraj, to take the old Katraj hill road onto the NH4.
4.40pm - Traffic wasnt much and we hit the NH4 highway after the Katraj hills at 4:40pm
5:00pm - Stopped somewhere for snacks
5:20pm - Started again
8:00pm - We reached the VRL campus on the outskirts of Kohlapur, Shiroli. Stopped for 15mins here. This place is approx 230km from Pune. So, with a 20min break (at 5pm), the bus covered 230km in 3hr 50min. Taking out the break, thats avg speed of 65km/h. Not bad, considering that after Kambhatki ghats, the bus stopped for 10min to get some courier luggage
8:20pm - started from Shiroli
9:50pm - Arrived in Belgaum. Approx 101km in 90min. Avg speed : 67k/h
10:45pm - Finally left Belgaum. After this, I sat upright to see the speeds. The driver constantly kept around 100 on the speedometer, with bursts of 110-115km/h too. We hit a max of 120km/h on a downhill section. Otherwise, on straights, he kept it at around 100-105km/h.
4:15am - We reached the VRL Campus at Chitradurga. We wasted 10min at a railway crossing, and between Haveri and Chitradurga, the roads are still very bad. The bus filled up fuel on the way, thats another 10min. From Belgaum, we covered 277km in 5hr 30min. Avg speed : 50km/h.
4:30am - Departed from Chitradurga.
7:10am - Entered Bangalore limits. Distance from Chitradurga, 210km in 2hr 40min. Avg speed : 78km/h. But it took another 30min to reach Anand Rao Circle.
Overall impression : Good, very good. Butter smooth trip. But i guess, VRL can reduce the overall time by increasing the cruising speed by 5km/h, spending less time during dinner stops (we spent 50min in Belgaum), stop wasting time while picking cargo on the way (in this case after Kambhatki) etc.
CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR VRL / VOLVO TICKET ONLINE
Monday, February 18, 2008
VRL Volvo bus trip : Pune - Bangalore - Pune
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8 comments:
I dont know why VRL and SHARMA charge so much for Mumbai-Bangalore route. For example, recently in the high season, the ticket was for more than 1200 rupees!! KSRTC however was cheaper and ofcourse i opted for KSRTC
KSRTC is a faster and cheaper option... I have been from Bangalore to Belgaum in 11 hours when they had claimed 13 hours travel time... Average speed was about 90 and top 125...
Also, you should try KSRTC Volvos on the Bangalore-Mangalore route sometime... They run at 100 avg speed and hit 140 a lot of the time when overtaking...
Private operators always cheat in prices and goodies... No water, Sometimes No blanket... On your trip from DVG to Pune, had you just asked the conductor, you would have got a bottle of water... There are always plenty extra...
I had heard bad reviews on the KSRTC. The thing is, most of the times, the staff is not good. For eg, i pay full Bangalore-Pune fare for travelling from Davanagere to Pune and still when i board the bus at Davanagere, they dont care to give you a bottle of water or a blanket.
My wife has had bad experiences twice - she has had to put her own luggage by herself in the luggage area. The conductors just dont help unlike Sharma / VRL
Once again I would repeat the same... KSRTC conductors are definitely helpful... All you have to do is ask... I've been on VRL, Paulo, KPN, KSRTC, Puzhekadavil (which was the first ever company to start Volvos), Shama, Sharma, Kallada - you name it... The best of the lot and most cost effective is KSRTC... The worst I had was in Paulo... The driver was drunk! And it was quite bad swaying around in a sleeper Volvo all the way from Goa to Bangalore...
Even I have been thru various operators - some which u wouldnt have even seen. Royal Cruiser in north east, Libra in North, Neeta/Konduskar/Swami etc.
U gotta travel on Bangalore-Pune route to see how the KSRTC conductors behave. Period!
ALso, VRL/Sharma on Bangalore-Pune/Mumbai and vice versa have just 41 seats (10rows). KSRTC has 11 rows (45 seater ones) and hence less leg space. Beat that!
--- A Letter to VRL ---
Hi
The trip with VRL was nothing short of a disaster...
Due to space constraints I cannot post my entire comment...do read to know the trauma I've been through.
please visit http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Vrlgroup-in-luurmnspmn
--- A Letter to VRL ---
Hi
The trip with VRL was nothing short of a disaster...
I cannot post the entire comment due to space constraints.
To know the trauma I have been through please visit
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Vrlgroup-in-luurmnspmn
VRL TRAVELS a worst services in country i have seen yet.
I am marketing person & traveled LOT by buses. VRL taking good amount of money but DO NOT GIVE good services. We customer dont expect THE BEST but CANT VRL give good.
Uncleaned Buses, Bus with lot of BEDBUCKS. No - one looking after it after complaining. Very BAD SERVICES. No proper chairs, seats.
Poor, Poor, Poor & I think they will be always poor as we seen their attitude.
It is good to travel by General in Train but not by VRL (WORST)
Again Poor, Poor, Poor.
Please give traveling customer one BODY-SPRAY free with tickets.
JUST HAS QUANTITY no QUALITY..
AMOL RANE
DOMBIVLI
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