Neeta Travels' Mercedes tri-axle bus' Mumbai-Goa accident

Before we start, here are the previous Mercedes bus accidents in India
1. The first ever Mercedes bus accident in India
2. Neeta's Mercedes bus crash between Hyderabad and Mumbai
3. See all Volvo and Mercedes Benz crashes till date





Thanks to our reader Vikram, here are more details on the Neeta Tours and Travel's Mercedes multiaxle bus crash that happened on the Mumbai-Goa route.
According to Vikram, the accident happened on the morning of this easter Sunday (third week of April) while the Mercedes bus was on its way to Mumbai from Goa. Around 100 kms before a place called Pen, around 6AM in the morning, Vikram was woken up due to frantic calls of people yelling at the driver who had lost control of the bus on a curve. By the time he woke up, the bus ran off the road into the field and the ride got very rough. He held tight to the seat and within a few secs, the left of the bus hit a tree. The tree fell on one side and the bus overturned onto the driver side. Luckily he was on the conductor side so escaped with minor bruises. However, lots of people were injured badly but thankfully, there was no causality.

These newer generation Mercedes Benz (and Volvo) buses are safe and hence its good to see there was no fatalities. However, at the same time, there has been an increase in such bad accidents involving these buses nowadays. We guess its time that Mercedes and Volvo started having a regular check on the kind of drivers who drive these buses!

Neeta travels' Mercedes triaxle bus accident between Hyderabad and Mumbai

A Mercedes Benz multi-axle / tri-axle luxury bus, run by Neeta Tours, heading to Mumbai from Hyderabad on 1st May 2011 had met with a tragic accident in which five passengers were killed on the spot and 14 others were injured. This happened when the Mercedes bus fell into a gorge near the Naldurg taluka of Osmanabad district. It was reported that the bus driver lost control on the wheel which resulted in the fall of vehicle into the gorge killing five passengers on the spot and injuring more than 14 others.

The deceased were identified as S Prasad, Shriniwas Bhadrakota, Shivkumar Padgir, Deepika Pawankur and Taufik. The age group of victims could not be ascertained as yet, police said. Our condolences to the families of those who passed away.

Here is a video of the same bus by "bokanglock" on youtube.com. Look how Neeta Tours and Travels has rubbed off their brand name from the bus body! Thanks for the pictures to Bokanglock also!



In the past, high speed buses like Volvo and Mercedes have been involved in accidents like these. Click HERE to see all

Neeta tours picks up 30 Mercedes buses including multi-axle

Mercedes is finally getting the recognition and sales it deserves for its bus range.
A significant deal comprising 30 units of 2-axle and 10 units of 3-axle coaches with Neeta Tours & Travels was announced today. The first lot of the handover comprising 11 buses was done at the Mercedes-Benz India plant at Chakan, Pune.

Emphasizing the ‘Travel with the Star’ experience, Mr. Peter Honegg, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes- Benz India Ltd. handed over the keys of the eleven 2- axle coaches to Mr. Anil Savla & Sunil Savla of Neeta Tours and Travels. The Mercedes-Benz Coach incorporates the hallmarks of the Mercedes-Benz brand. These include high standards of safety, comfort, reliability and quality that is aimed to make the travel experience of the commuters a cherished one.

Commenting on the deal, Mr. Sunil Savla, Owner, Neeta Tours & Travels said, “Our current fleet of Mercedes-Benz buses cumulatively has excellent on road performance and has had better revenue realisation than other coaches. This has convinced us in our decision to purchase the new set of 40 more Mercedes-Benz buses; with this our fleet of Mercedes Buses will go to up to 60. The customer feedback has been extremely positive for these buses and the reliability and comfort of a Mercedes-Benz bus remains unmatched.”

KSRTC gets own Mercedes luxury buses

Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has now inducted Mercedes-Benz buses in its fleet: Mr. R. Ashok, Chairman and Mr. Gaurav Gupta, M.D, KSRTC was handed-over the keys of KSRTC’s Mercedes-Benz Luxury Two axle coaches by Dr. Wilfried Aulbur, Managing Director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India.

The KSRTC Mercedes buses will run on the following routes

Bangalore-Mysore : 07:40hrs, 08:40hrs, 17:10hrs, 17:30hrs ( Fare: Rs:260/-)
Mysore- Bangalore: 12:10hrs, 12:40hrs, 20:30hrs, 20:50hrs ( Fare: Rs:260/-)

Bangalore-Shimoga: 10:00hrs, 14:00hrs (Fare: Rs 416/-)
Shimoga-Bangalore: 23:00hrs, 23:30hrs (Fare: 416/-)

Bangalore-Tirupathi: 10:45 hrs, 23:00hrs (Fare: 370/- and Rs 400/-)
Tirupathi-Bangalore: 12:15hrs, 23:15hrs

Bangalore-Chennai: 23:40 (Fare: Rs: 620)
Chennai:Bangalore: 22:25

Bangalore-Hyderabad: 20:40(Fare: Rs 780)
Hyderabad-Bangalore: 17:30

Reader Feeback: Chennai to Trivandrum - Parveen travels

1. Your name: Praveen Paul
2. Route : Chennai - Trivandrum
3. Operator name : Parveen Travels
4. Bus brand : Mercedes Benz Multi axle
5. Month of travel : July

The travel Experience was very positive. The Bus was scheduled to leave Chennai Koyembedu at 8:00 PM to Trivandrum, the fare was Rs 1050 which is bit more than what the Volvo operators charge ( ~Rs 950). Due to traffic inside the Bus stand itself, we only managed to leave around 8:30. The Bus itself was what you would expect from a bus competing against the volvos : comfortable seats, excellent air conditioning and very smooth ride. Parveen Travels provided Complementary snacks for the journey, a very nice touch! The Drivers were friendly and didnt chat loudly all night or anything. There were 2 LCD tvs inside the bus and i was sitting at the front and the in bus entertainment is the usual Tamil movie. Unlike other volvos that i have traveled by, the front of the main aisle of the bus wasn't covered and you had a good view of the road ahead though there was no light problem from the oncoming traffic as the roads are 4 laned.


The bus traveled at a fast speed ~100 Km/h and made quick time (including a race with a KPN multi axle Volvo!) to get to Trivandrum by 8:15 AM, which is very fast considering that Anantapuri EXP takes 16 hours! All in all the journey was very pleasant, quiet and there were no unnecessary stops. I would really recommend travelling by Parveen's Mercedes bus!

For more reader reviews, CLICK HERE

Mercedes multi-axle bus : cruising @ 105km/h video

After so many Volvo videos, we caught the newly launched Mercedes multi-axle bus on the Mumbai-Pune expressway.
This bus was been run by Neeta travels and being new, the driver was holding around 102-104km/h constantly.
The white bus does look majestic and we can only imagine how it will be driven after a proper run-in.



Enjoy the video. For all videos on luxury buses till date, CLICK HERE

Parveen travels gets first Mercedes Multi-axle bus

Remember our spy shot of the new Mercedes Mult-axle bus (READ) ? South India bases Parveen travels is now the first owner of the same bus. This new bus hallmarks of the Mercedes brand: highest standards of safety, comfort and technology. They offer unparallaled value offering to customers due to their optimized cost of ownership, toughness and durability as well as reliability.
The Mercedes Multi-axle buses are built on the robust Mercedes chassis O 500 RSD 2436. These buses have been optimized to suit the needs of Parveen Travels. The buses sport suave exteriors, plush and airy interiors, well designed passenger seats and thoughtful amenities like personalised speakers, lights and AC controls.
Powered by the Euro III engine, the buses are capable of delivering high performance, powerful torque output and a good fuel economy. Their rear engines with 6 vertical cylinders, turbo charged and intercooled engine deliver 1200 Nm torque at a low rpm of 1400-1600. The smart suspension system of these buses is equipped a lifting mechanism that allows the chauffer to increase the height of the bus when the road conditions are demanding.

Read this bus' reader feedback HERE

SCOOP! New Mercedes Multi-axle caught on test

(click to expand)

Remember Mercedes showcasing their new multi-axle bus at the Auto Expo? (read HERE)

Well, that bus had both the 2nd and 3rd axle with 4 wheels each. However, I managed to chase and capture this different kind of multi-axle Mercedes bus on test recently.

I strongly feel and believe that this one has a dummy 3rd axle with 2 wheels, just like the Volvo B9R has a dummy 2nd axle with 2 wheels. Looks like Mercedes has gone in for some changes in the bus. Hmmmm...

Shall keep you all posted on this...

Mercedes launched multi axle bus in India

Ok, i know this is coming very late, but here is more dope on Mercedes Benz's rival to the Volvo B9R multi-axle bus. Mercedes Benz, though are the leaders in luxury buses in the world, havent really been doing well in India with their luxury long distance bus (see HERE)

The new Mercedes multi-axle bus was launched at the Auto Expo in New Delhi. They call it the 3-axle coach. Powered by the Euro III engine, the Mercedes-Benz 3-axle coaches are capable of delivering high performance, powerful torque output and a good fuel economy. The rear engine with 6 vertical cylinders, turbo charged and intercooled engine delivers 1200 Nm torque at a low rpm of 1400-1600. The smart suspension system is equipped a lifting mechanism that allows the chauffer to lift the height of the coach when the road conditions are bad.

The Mercedes-Benz coach is designed for the highest levels of safety and stability at even high speeds. The coach comes with ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) that accentuates safety of the vehicle as a whole. Hoping to take a ride in one of these some day!

Click HERE to book tickets on this bus now

Eagle introduces Mercedes Benz buses for travel

Eagle Corporate, a very popular bus operator in Gujrat recently introduced Mercedes Benz buses for inter-city travel. The buses would run on the Ahmedabad-Rajkot route, taking just three hours to cover 210km as compared to more than 3.5hours taken by the Volvo buses. Eagle claims that the Merc buses are far more powerful and hence are able to run at higher speeds!

The operator is known for its long distance Volvo and non-Volvo buses and now joins the race for Mercedes Benz buses.

Here is the news from Indopia.in

A leading travel agency of Western India, Eagle travel agency introduced Mercedes Benz bus for public transportation.
Annoucing the launch of the Rs 84 lakh luxury bus last night, Gujarat Finance Minister, Vajubhai Vala, said this will set new standards in passenger transport in the country.

The private public transport operation claimed to be the first operator to offer customers entertainment through projectors in the bus and to launch sleeper coach for long journey, Jayendra Bavaria, Managing Director of the travel agency said.

The travel agency has introduced the imported bus"Volvo"in Gujarat and also introduce first in the country an inbuilt washroom in the bus, Bavaria said and added the agency was also first in the state to introduce non-stop fleet with in-bus services.

"We also offers E-ticket facilities where the commuters can buy their tickets from anywhere, anytime through their website," Bavariya said.

On the occasion, city mayor, Sandhya Vyas, Mercedes Benz senior official, Ashok Bhardwaj were also present.




RELATED READING

MERCEDES BENZ BUS CRASH IN INDIA
APSRTC TO USE MERCEDES BENZ BUSES
REDUS.IN MENTIONS US!

APSRTC to use Mercedes Benz buses

The recently introduced Mercedes Benz buses will now be used by the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation.

Hyderabad Dec 26 : Passengers can hope to travel long distance in the luxury of Mercedes Benz buses to be introduced by the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) soon. APSRTC officials said that for starters a Mercedes Benz bus would be test-driven for 45 days in the state. Based on its performance, the corporation will place an order for procuring a few MB buses.

During the test period, APSRTC will ply the bus and collect regular ticket fare from passengers. "Except fuel, there is nothing the corporation has to bear during the test period. The 45-seater vehicle will be given to the corporation with insurance," a senior APSRTC official said. Similarly, 17 new luxury buses (10 Luxura and seven Serita vehicles) would be introduced in addition to the existing 100 Garuda buses for high-end passengers. A high-end Tata 1623 will also hit the roads before the second week of January.

"The difference between new buses and the existing Garuda fleet is that the passenger will have more legroom and more space in the aisle. The driver will also have more comfortable place to run the vehicle," the official said. The corporation has formulated plans to run these luxury shuttle services buses between Hyderabad and Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Banglore and Tirupati and from Vijayawada to coastal Andhra.

SOURCE: Tollywoodglitz

ALSO SEE:

Mercedes Benz buses come to India

Mercedes Benz bus crash in India

Mercedes Benz Bus crash in India

UPDATED: NEETA'S MERCEDES CRASH BETWEEN HYD-MUM - CLICK HERE

Mercedes recently launched their inter-city buses in India. Sharma travels was one of the first few operators to pick up the bus. But recently, the Mercedes bus met with a ghastly accident on the Mumbai-Bangalore route.

Here is a picture taken from the famous automotive blog www.team-bhp.com

The website says that one guy, the co-driver, was killed in the accident.

Click on picture to enlarge it!



Also see
KPN Volvo B9R crash
Volvo B9R bus power, engine
Sharma transports picks up the Volvo B9R
Top speed of Volvo / Kinglong buses
Volvo B7R crash enroute Chennai

Mercedes Benz Buses come to India

UPDATE : SHARMA TRANSPORTS' MERDECES BENZ BUS CRASH

Mercedes Benz have finally launched their buses in India. The bodies are being made by Sutlej body builders. We already had the Volvo B7R buses and the Chinese King Long buses and now the Mercedes Benz. Three buses have already been picked up by Sharma Transports, Konduskur and Neeta each.

I will keep you updated on how the bus is from the inside and how it feels over bad roads.

Images : www.team-bhp.com, a leading automotive forum in India

ALSO SEE:
JCBL KINGLONG BUSES
VOLVO B7R PICTURES