Volvo B7R pictures

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How to travel from Mumbai to Pune in a Volvo

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Across websites and forums, I have come across this common query of how to travel between Mumbai and Pune / Pune and Mumbai, on a Volvo B7R bus.

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Here is a lowdown.
1. Mumbai to Pune
Experience says that the best bet is to take a Shivneri Volvo, run by MSRTC. These start from Dadar. Just ask the cab driver to drop you at the Asiad bus stand. The Shivneri Volvos (they also have Cerita buses, which are based on Kinglong buses from China) run from 5:30am to 11:30pm at night. The frequency is generally 30min.
You will have to stand in a small queue to book the ticket for current buses. You can also fill a small form and book you ticket in advance. The fare is Rs 220 and usually you get a small mineral water bottle along with a newspaper too.
The fare might be 20-40 bucks more than other buses like Neeta and Metro Link, but the money spent is worth it. Stops are fewer, buses are better maintained and you usually reach Pune station in less than 4 hours, sometimes even 3.5 hours - this is one to one and a half hours less than other Volvo operators.
Buses generally run full from Dadar itself. So, if you stay in Chembur / New Mumbai areas, then you have no option but to take Neeta / Metro Link ones. But, if you can reach the Vashi Volvo bus point, then in evenings, if you are lucky, you can get a seat in one of the long distance Volvos which run to Bangalore / Hyderabad. They have some reservations from Pune and hence the seats are empty. These include operators like Sharma / KSRTC / VRL etc

2. Pune to Mumbai
Again the best bet is to hit the bus stand next to Pune station and take a Shivneri. Stay away from Neeta / Metro Link services. But if you stay in places like Aundh / Wakad / Kothrud, then you have no option but to take the private operators. All the best!!

Related Reading:
Metro Link Experience
Neeta Experience

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KSRTC Volvo experience

I have used KSRTC volvo service lot of times, mostly between Pune and Davanagere and back. The latest one was around a week back from Davanagere to Pune.

A week back, rates of other (VRL Volvo Read, Read, SHARMA Volvo
Read) travel opeators were very high. My ticket was booked from the Davanagere KSRTC bus stand on the 1900BNGPNQ (leaves Bangalore at 7pm). First of all, on the ticket it was mentioned the bus would reach Davangere by 11:30pm. I have traveled between Bangalore and Davanager and knew the bus would not reach before 12pm at any cost. So I reached the bus stand at midnight, just to wait for a full one hour before it turned up.

I had paid a full fare of Bangalore-Pune, but luckily got the seat behind the driver. The journey was good, but I alteast expected a complimentary water bottle. It seemed that other passengers who got on from Bangalore did get a bottle. We left Davanagere at 1am, and reached Pune by 10:30am. Had a morning break at around 7am, but the thing that bothered me was that when the bus stopped, the staff said it would be a 10min break. It turned out to be a 30min for no reason. The staff took all the time in the world to get back to the bus.

I have read such instances online - KSRTC is getting a bad name due to its staff!