Another Sharma Volvo B9R accident - this time at Haveri

See the Davanagere accident HERE

See all Volvo / Mercedes accidents HERE

The Sharma Volvo B9R multi-axle accident at Davanagere isnt the only one. Another one happened at Haveri involving another Sharma Volvo B9R bus.

This accident occurred when the Bangalore bound Mumbai - Bangalore Sharma multi-axle Volvo bus tried to avoid the sudden entering of a three-wheeler. This made the driver loose control which resulted in the bus toppling over. This crash happened near Haveri around 8:00am .3 persons were said to have been found dead in this accident.

The Sharma Volvo B9R bus before the accident
Pic - Putta, Davanagere

The same bus after the accident |
Pic - Sunil Kumar

The same bus after the accident
Pic - Sunil Kumar

Another Sharma Volvo accident - this time in Davanagere

Before we start, here is the LINK to the first ever Mercedes Benz bus crash that was owned by Sharma Travels - SEE

Secondly, to see more than a dozen other Volvo / Mercedes bus accidents, see THIS

Here is another Sharma multi-axle Volvo B9R accident report. Sharma Volvo is one of the regulars on the Mumbai - Bangalore route but this time, the Bangalore bound bus met with a fatal fate. This accident happened on the 1st September 2011 around 7:30am near Davangere, 260km short of Bangalore on NH4, when reportedly a KSRTC bus suddenly took turn to enter the Holalkere village road. The conductor of KSRTC bus has been dead in this accident. As of now, we don't know what happened to the passengers of the Volvo bus!

The Sharma Volvo B9R multi-axle bus before the crash Pic - Putta, davanagere

The same bus after the accident!
Pic - Sunil Sharma

Sharma Volvo B9R : Bangalore to Mumbai route experience

After taking the VRL volvo to Davangere on the 5th (READ HERE), I took the Sharma B9R back to Pune on the 8th November. Again the seat was booked online and though yet again Redbus mentioned boarding time at 8pm, the bus arrived in Davanagere at 9:15pm. I had pre-called the Sharma agent in Davanagere and he had confirmed the time as 9:30pm. Fair enough. But to my dismay, the bus ended up taking a 45min dinner break in Davangere at left only at 10:15pm. But this was just the starting. After crossing Haveri, at the first toll naka, the bus waited for a good 20min for another Sharma Volvo coming from Mumbai side to give that bus a spare tyre. We were already running well behind schedule. After Hubli though, the driver did try making up for the lost time as my GPS showed true speeds to be around 95km/h (100+ on the speedo) with short bursts to 105km/h or so .

The bus' condition was very good - smooth and silent. I was lapping the bus' speed : till the time we stopped for breakfast at Natraj (shivpuri), the bus covered 235km in 174mins : avg speed of 80km/h! Brilliant. However, the breakfast break turned out to be a 45min break. Two KSRTC Volvos which came after us, left before us! I was finally dropped off at Katraj bypass at8pm : thats a journey time of almost 10hrs as compared to 8.5hrs the VRL volvo took 3 days back. This is really not encourgaing and i might just stop using Sharma Volvo from next time onwards.

Click HERE to book tickets on this bus now

Sharma Transports' Volvo Bangalore-Mumbai B9R experience

Pic: jkv from www.team-bhp.com

While I took the KSRTC Volvo to Davangere from Pune (READ), on the way back, i booked myself on the Bangalore-Mumbai Sharma Volvo. The one that leaves Bangalore by 3-3:30pm is the new Multi-axle B9R Volvo. It reaches Davanagere from Bangalore by around 9pm but then also halts in the city for Dinner. My seat no was 1 - directly behind the driver. The front row also means that you can lift ur legs and keep it on the support in front of you.

We left Davanagere city by 10pm and it was a non-stop journey till the outskirts of Pune. The road has lot of bad patches / diversions till Haveri after which is very good. The driver kept the bus around the 90-95km/h mark again - it seems on this long route (between Mumbai - Bangalore), most Volvos are run at these speeds, mainly to save on fuel costs.

The B9R runs a touch more smoothly better than the B7R. Though Volvo supplies the B9R in a 53 seater config, Sharma's B9R volvo has 49 seats, thus improving leg space a lot.

We halted for breakfast around 30min before Pune at around 6:15am. This is very irritating for Pune passengers. Sharma guys should reach Pune directly, drop Pune passengers and then stop for breakfast for the rest of the Mumbai guys.

Apart from this, the journey was very very comfortable.

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

Sharma transports picks up the new Volvo B9R / 9400 6x2 bus

Sharma Transports have picked up the new Volvo B9R or the new Volvo 9400 6x2 bus for its long distance route.

The new Volvo 9400 6x2 is longer than the current B7R and comes with a 9 Litre engine. Read more about this bus by clicking here

See pictures of the Volvo B7R HERE

Sharma Transports' Mercedes Benz bus crash
Book a VOLVO B9R ticket online NOW!

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!

CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR BUS TICKET ONLINE

Sharma Volvo : Davangere to Mumbai route experience

Sharma Volvo : On the Bangalore-Mumbai Volvo

I often go to Davanagere in Karnataka. While going from Mumbai, i take the KSRTC volvo, but while coming I take the Sharma (sometimes the VRL).
I have taken the Sharma Volvo (the Bangalore to Mumbai volvo) from Davanagere on occasions like
1. 31st May 2007 : 6pm
2. 14th June 2007 : 6pm
3. 5th July 2007 : 6pm
4. 15th Aug 2007 : 9pm
5. 27th Oct 2007 : 6pm
and many more times..

The distance from Davanagere to Mumbai is around 750km, but i stay in Navi Mumbai (around 720km). The bus takes 12.5hrs for this 720km trip, out of which around 75km are in bad shape. There is a 45min dinner stop, a 15min petrol stop at night. The bus usually keeps around 100-105km/h on the speedometer. On 15th August 2007 for example, the bus left Davanagere by 9:15pm, arrived New Mumbai at 9:45am. We had two railway crossings to negotiate plus due to rains, the driver took it slow on the highway and so I guess, normally, the bus must be reaching New Mumbai usually by 9am. The ticket was for 850 bucks and as I had booked the ticket 4 days in advance, I was lucky enough to get seat No 1. This seat is right behind the driver, and u can actually see the speedometer console shadow in the window next to the seat (on the right). The best seat for overnight trips. The bus seemed quite new, very less noise and vibs inside the cabin. On the move, I just couldnt make out if the engine was running. Volvos do cost a bomb, but are worth it. Absolutely fantastic.