MSRTC adds Volvo luxury to Mumbai trip

PUNE: Responding quickly tocompetition from private operators, the Maharashtra state road transportcorporation (MSRTC or simply ST) has added five luxury buses of the covetedVolvo make to its fleet plying on the lucrative Pune-Mumbai route.Thecorporation is set to introduce 20 more Volvos, some of which will be used onthe Pune-Sahar international airport, Pune-Nagpur, Pune-Kolhapur and Pune-Shirdisectors, MSRTC regional manager Dilip Patil told TNN.VijaysinhMohite-Patil, state minister for public works, on Saturday officially flaggedoff the first Pune-Mumbai Volvo service from Pune station ST stand at 10 am.Shivajirao Deshmukh, managing director, MSRTC and Sudhakar Paricharak, MLA, wereamong those present.The sleekly-styled, spacious, 45-seater,air-suspension Volvo buses sport a trendy blue colour and offer centrallyair-conditioned comfort and video facilities. The MSRTC has maintained theticket price at Rs 180. The tickets may be booked 15 days in advance at theSwargate, Shivajinagar or Pune station bus stands or any of the MSRTC-authorisedprivate booking centres in the city.The Volvo buses will leave the Punestation ST stand daily at 6 am, 7 am, 8 am, 8.30 am, 9 am, 2.30 pm, 3 pm, 4 pm,4.30 pm and 5 pm. Travelling along the Pune-Mumbai expressway, they willcomplete the journey to Dadar in a little over three hours. They will halt atthe expressway village on way to Dadar and at the expressway food mall on thereturn journey.After reaching Dadar, the same bus will begin the returnjourney after an hour’s break. The MSRTC has purchased Volvo buses for Rs45 lakh each from Bangalore, where a dozen of its technicians and drivers havealready been specially trained for handling the bus. The deluxe ST busespresently operated by MSRTC on the Mumbai-Pune-Mumbai route cost Rs 23 lakheach. Sources in MSRTC told TNN that the new Volvo buses have already evokedexcellent response from passengers and several services have been fully bookedin advance.The MSRTC has already applied to the Airport Authority of Indiafor permission to ply buses from Pune to the Sahar airport in Mumbai, Patilrevealed. The state government plans to stipulate minimum fare slabs forlong-distance travel to ensure private bus operators do not indulge in fare warswith the MSRTC, he added.