Sharma Volvo : Pune to Davanagere

I took a Sharma Volvo from Pune to Davangere on 2nd August 2008.
This is the Mumbai to Bangalore Sharma Volvo that leaves Boriveli at 10am.
It reaches Vashi, the outskirts of Mumbai by around 12:30pm and the schedule is to reach Pune (Swargate, natraj hotel) by 3:30pm.

I reached the pick up point of natraj hotel, Swargate by 3:15pm. The bus reached only at 4:10pm, leaving at 4:45pm. Not a good thing - I, along with others had to wait for a good 1 and a half hours. The least Sharma Transports could do was spend Rs2 to make a call to the passengers (from pune) about the delay.

The bus left at 4:45pm. We had a non-stop journey till we stopped for fuel around 10-15mins after crossing Kolhapur. Kolhapur, 231km from Pune was crossed in 3.5hrs. Not bad, considering we took 20min to leave Pune city. This bus was Mark III, ie, the CRDI engine one (290bhp). I had seat no 29, and was disappointed with the engine noise. Have travelled in other Volvo B7Rs sitting behind but this time, there was too much engine sound

We stopped for dinner just 5mins after the fuel stop. From there on, it was again a non-stop journey til Davanagere. Davangere is 570km from Pune and i was dropped at 2:05am. That means 570km were done in just 9hours 20min which equates to an avg speed of 59km/h. The bus generally cruised at around 95-100km/h, which is more or less what other operators also do.

The ticket cost was Rs 800 (they charge full Pune-Bangalore rate). VRL was 1020 so it was out of question. KSRTC was 800, except on the 3pm Pune-Mysore Volvo which was Rs 700. But KSRTC has 11 rows whereas as Sharma and VRL have 10 rows hence more leg space.

In one hour, i am taking Sharma Volvo back to Pune. Shall update tomm!

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