[maddy42]

Glad that MSRTC have finally realized and are improving their service. Used to catch the any bus other than Neeta from Chembur as this was the last stop in mumbai.

Am i the only one who feels the govt is finally doing a good job having sold out to the pvt players for so long? Just a comparison as a couple of southern states have a lot better state owned transport corporation.

PS: Just remembered the prices of food on the few places that the pvt buses stop. Something like Rs 15 for vada pav and 60 for Dosa!! Day light robbery

[Mr.Beat]

I also travel every weekend to Navi Mumbai from Pune and back to Pune on Sunday evenings. The problem i do face is that by the time the buses reach Navi Mumbai they are fully packed with people even standing and travelling all the way till Pune. I do have my car but the petrol prices are way to much and haven't got any people for car pool yet. Last time i took a Neeta Volvo which seemed very old and they charged me 200 rupees. This is considered to be quite a deal especially on a Sunday when there is too much of a rush. The Shivneri services are punctual more so because they do not wait to fill up customers unlike the private players.

Neeta travels have introduced a Mercedes bus which is multi-axle and seems to maintained well

[selfdrive]

A regular bus service between the Mumbai airport to Pune would be a god send. As this will service people during night hours, it will also provide a robust alternative for travellers to Pune after 23h00. There could be pick up/ drop points at Deccan/ Chandni Chowk/ Baner in Pune and Chembur and Vashi on the other side
I dont mind paying 600 rs for this service either. It will reduce dependency on the arrogant and aggressive private cab owners.

[sajo]

I have traveled only once on Neeta on my way back from Dadar, the condition of the bus was okay, but they took an unreasonably long stop (1 hour+) in Chembur for unknown reasons.
Since then, if at all I need to travel, its always Shivneri for me. I have once come back in a spanking new Mercedes Benz bus with only 3 people on board! That was when the ticket counter was near the public toilet.

A regular bus service between the Mumbai airport to Pune would be a god send. As this will service people during night hours, it will also provide a robust alternative for travellers to Pune after 23h00. There could be pick up/ drop points at Deccan/ Chandni Chowk/ Baner in Pune and Chembur and Vashi on the other side
I dont mind paying 600 rs for this service either. It will reduce dependency on the arrogant and aggressive private cab owners.

+100 to that man!! I dread taking a cab everytime I have to come back after a long journey.
Private cabs charge around 650 per seat, and the last time I took one, the driver though polite and mild, was driving for 24 hours straight.
An hourly bus service from international/domestic airport to and from Pune operated by MSRTC would be my preference any day! They can increase the frequency to one every half an hour once the late night flights start arriving at the international airport.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by sajo

+100 to that man!! I dread taking a cab everytime I have to come back after a long journey.
Private cabs charge around 650 per seat, and the last time I took one, the driver though polite and mild, was driving for 24 hours straight.
An hourly bus service from international/domestic airport to and from Pune operated by MSRTC would be my preference any day! They can increase the frequency to one every half an hour once the late night flights start arriving at the international airport.

+100 to the driver part, they are really fatigued and overworked. I have had drivers who are sleeping for a couple of hours and are woken up by us calling their mobiles.
yeah, I have to end up taking a Frankfurt stopover as that is the only decent connection flying into Pune. However, even that flight is delayed a lot of times, and it reduces the scope of direct destinations.
Now that the Mumbai airport is so well renovated, it is tempting to resume traveling from there. Only if there was reliable public transport, it would be a simpler decision. there should be those buses with extra luggage carrying capacity, and as they would be earning double the amount, the number os seats can be lessened to increase luggage space.
In case buses are empty, they can pick up passengers from points like Chembur and Vashi.

[mmxylorider]

Originally Posted by sajo

+100 to that man!! I dread taking a cab everytime I have to come back after a long journey.
Private cabs charge around 650 per seat, and the last time I took one, the driver though polite and mild, was driving for 24 hours straight.
An hourly bus service from international/domestic airport to and from Pune operated by MSRTC would be my preference any day! They can increase the frequency to one every half an hour once the late night flights start arriving at the international airport.

OT - KK travels does have a good home drop service. But I agree, feeder services connecting to other transport options would be a good option.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by mmxylorider

OT - KK travels does have a good home drop service. But I agree, feeder services connecting to other transport options would be a good option.

My 2 cents: due to the home drop service, gaddi gaon ghoomke aati hai :( IMHO it is better to have central pick up points instead.

[sajo]

Further OT, on second thoughts will stick to KK/Sandi's. because a central pickup/drop would mean either wake someone up at home to pick you up, or take a rickshaw.
BTW, MSRTC doesnt seem to run any twin axle B9R buses. While Neeta does, both Volvo and Mercedes.

[mmxylorider]

Originally Posted by sajo

BTW, MSRTC doesnt seem to run any twin axle B9R buses. While Neeta does, both Volvo and Mercedes.

Interesting observation! Wondering if # of axle based toll rates have anything to do with that. Or maybe an initial bulk order with Volvo is still getting fulfilled.

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by maddy42

PS: Just remembered the prices of food on the few places that the pvt buses stop. Something like Rs 15 for vada pav and 60 for Dosa!! Day light robbery

That also reminds me that Neeta buses take a detour and exit the expressway at Lonavala to go to their company owned hotel at Lonavala.

[SDP]

Does Shivneri have any stop near Talegaon-Dabhade? Or it takes the expressway throughout and bypasses Lonavala, Talegaon etc?

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by SDP

Does Shivneri have any stop near Talegaon-Dabhade? Or it takes the expressway throughout and bypasses Lonavala, Talegaon etc?

No, they do not stop at Talegaon Dabhade. Their pickup points in Pune are:

1) Pune Rly station.
2) Parihar Chowk - Aundh
3) Indira college - Wakad

Pickup points in Bombay:

1) Dadar T.T.
2) Maitri Park - Chembur
3) Vashi

[mmxylorider]

To my knowledge none of the premium services (Shivneri/2X2) use NH4 to Mumbai. Some regular red buses also use MPEW and have 'megahighway' on them to indicate it so.
Maybe services to/from Pimpri Vallabhnagar use NH4 but those would be very infrequent and are probably through services to/from other parts of Maharashtra.

[sandip]

Hi,

I have done this route for almost a year !!! Jun 2008 to Jun 2009 from Aundh (parihar chowk) to CBD Belapur.

Yes Shivnery rocks, if you have the oppurtunity of boarding from their pick up/drop points. SO on my way back I generally used any bus that would pass through Pune on their way to Bangalore or where ever. KSRTC buses are also well maintained and follow a time schedule.

Less said about Neeta the better (although much have been said already in this thread). It seems that they are hell bent on giving a trip to one of their food joints once you board their bus. The one near Khandala on the way to Mumbai is pathetic and real pain.

[raul]

I have been using MSRTC Pune Bombay services since the Ashok Leyland buses. Since i work in Mumbai and home is Pune I go at least twice a month on weekends, there have been time when I have done it all 4 weekends. Usually I drive once and take the bus once.

I have been using Shivneri since it begun and given its a government organization its surprisingly well run, by far the most professionally run service between Mumbai and Pune, the most important thing is the buses always leave on time, even if there 5 people on board and usually do the trip in 3-3.30 hrs depending on traffic.

The online booking makes it totally hassle free now. Its a predictable and hassle free experience, a real asset for regular travellers. And a couple of years ago they were still using a mix of vehicles but now its all Volvo and while you do get the odd badly maintained bus by and large the vehicles are mostly new and in good condition.

The last thing you want when you are travelling is to wait around aimlessly on the bus while the operator tries to get people and then wander around mumbai or pune looking for passengers for over 2 hours which is what most private operators seem to do. Their business plan seems to be mainly around conning first timers. The only time the private operators make sense is if you are taking the bus from Aundh/Wakad in Pune or Vashi in Mumbai when the bus is on the move and not likely to be hanging around.

There is an opportunity for them but they need to get their act together, whats the point of bying fleets costing over 80 lakhs each and then not managing the logistics and customer service professionally. I don't really get their business model.