This was long due. Finally, online ticket booking for Mumbai - Pune / Pune - Mumbai MSRTC Shivneri Volvo buses has started.
Log onto http://public.msrtcors.com/ticket_booking/index.php
To book other bus tickets on various routes, we recommend REDBUS
These are the best option to travel between these two cities. In addition, you can also book tickets on other MSRTC routes on non a/c buses as well.
You might also be interested in seeing the MSRTC Shivneri Volvo do almost 120km/h! See THIS LINK
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
Hubli based VRL Travels, one of the biggest bus travel operators in South India recently picked up a lot of new Volvo B9R multi-axle buses. The last we heard, they purchased 8 of these, all in yellow color, with numberings (to identify the buses) in the form of alphabets.
I recently took their Mumbai to Bangalore B9R for my trip to Davanagere from Pune. This bus leaves Sion at 3pm, reaching Katraj at7pm. Though the bus arrived on time, it just stood there for 45mins, putting in courier boxes to be delivered in Bangalore. This was very irriating.
The bus however is the epitome of luxury travel in India. On the way, I even sat at the co-driver's seat, chatting with the driver about the new features. As the bus was new, Volvo had electronically controlled the top speed to 100km/h. The B9R has a cruise control in addition to height adjustment and traction control too. The driver was making full use of the cruise control and cruising at 100km/h. Only on downhill sections was the bus going above 100km/h. I was told, once the engine has run-in properly, the cruise control will be removed and the bus will easily do 120km/h.
The Katraj (Pune) to Davanagere trip, around 580km, was done in 9 hours including a dinner break and a fuel stop. I paid Rs 950 for the ticket (Pune-Bangalore is Rs 1,000). Overall, a satisfying trip with the only issue being the long wait at Katraj.
Read more VRL related posts, including feedback HERE
Read more about the Volvo B9R HERE
Click HERE to book tickets on this bus now
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
Date of journey : 5th November 2009
Bus route : Mumbai to Bangalore
My route : Boarding at Pune, dropping at Davanagere.
I took the 7pm Pune VRL bus. I had booked the ticket via redbus.in and though the site mentioned the pickup point as Laxmi Narayan Theatre, the actual boarding point was Katraj. The bus came 15min late but the worse part was that the bus left at 7:45pm. The reason being that VRL guys were busy loading parcel (courier bags) in the belly of the bus. Unlike other operators like KSRTC / Sharma, VRL is still using the old Volvo B7Rs and not the new 9400 series one. The bus did seem old - lot of suspension and engine noise. I had seat no 2 and used my GPS speedometer (in the phone) to the max. The driver was fast, keeping around 105-110 on the speedo (my GPS showed around 95-98 most of the times).
We had dinner after Satara (45min break) after which it was a nonstop drive to Davanagere. Surprisingly, we reached Davangere bypass at 4:15am - 565km in 8.5 hrs including a dinner break. This has to be one of the fastest Volvo journeys till date for me.
I paid Rs 950 for the journey. Overall good but VRL should pull up its socks with better boarding time and also newer buses.
Click HERE to book tickets on this bus now
There is a reason why Volvo is now offering adjustable air suspension on the newer 9400 series B7R and B9R. I saw this feature first hand recently on the Mumbai-Bangalore KSRTC B7R. The lane leading into the pick-up point in Pune (camp) is very tricky : the dirt road is 6-8 inches lower than the main road. The driver made full use of the air-suspension, lifted the whole bus by a few inches and had no trouble whatsoever negotiating this obstacle. It looks pretty cool as well!
Here is another example. Recently one of KSRTC's old Volvo B7R had a tough time negotiation a small lane in Mangalore's 'Chilimbi' area.
The blocked bus also resulted in a traffic jam!
The repaired underbelly
