Review of Ghatge Patil Mercedes Benz SuperHighDeck 15 mtrs multiaxle from Pune to Kolhapur - 230 kms
It was from quite sometime that I was keen on checking out this new hot ''Three Pointed Star'' German beauty. The Mercedes AMG inspired front grille and a huge ''Three pointed star'' sticker sitting on the side profiles of the bus has captivated me ever since the refreshed design of Mercedes Benz was launched in India about an year ago. An opportunity struck last night and I travelled in the all new Mercedes Benz SHD from Pune ( Mitramandal Chowk ) to Kolhapur ( bus stand ). This bus belonged to Mohan Travels of Ghatge Patil Transports Group (GPT) based at Kolhapur, Maharashtra. GPT is a big name in the logistics and bus industry since the 1980s, known for their good customer service and well maintained fleet of buses. Infact their 1+1 AC sleeper buses are the finest sleeper buses in the entire Maharashtra-Karnataka-Goa territory !! Somehow GPT never went for the Volvos or Mercs even when other top notch operator from Kolhapur viz. Konduskar upgraded to a premium fleet of Volvos or Mercs since the last decade. Konduskar's buses are very well maintained too. Find more details of GPT and their routes here -
http://www.gptmohantravels.com/
Around 3 months ago, GPT threw up a shocking surprise by purchasing two Merc SHDs and deployed them on Pune-Kolhapur-Pune route with each bus doing three schedules daily from either end i.e 6.45 a.m, 5.30pm and 11.30pm.
My booking was done online and seat chosen was D2 - second row window seat on RHS. Fare after discount was 370/-. ETA at Mitramandal Chowk,Pune was 11.30pm and the bus promptly arrived at 11.35pm. It starts all the way from Nigdi in Pune. This was the first time I was seeing the Merc SHD live upclose and truly what a marvellous bus it is ! The front and side profiles are eyecandy and by far the most beautiful looking bus on Indian roads at present at par with VOLVO. Rear profile is not great though and this is where aesthetics of Volvo wins hands down. Look at a Volvo from any angle and it simply looks super stunning. Coming back to my journey, the crew consisting of 2 drivers and 1 attender were in clean uniforms (brown in colour) and very well behaved. Many pax boarded the bus here. Attender checked tickets and enquired our respective alighting points. We got moving by 11.40 pm but stopped a little ahead for 10 mins for a late passenger to arrive. There were a couple more pick ups at Katraj junction. Attender handed out 500 ml water bottles to everyone of us. Meanwhile the bus ascended the Katraj ghat effortlessly and we touched the NH4 at 12.15 a.m,thereby exiting Pune. Crossed Khed Shivapur toll by 12.20 a.m. Speeds seemed to be in the 85-95kmph range wherever 6 laning work was completed but driver was extra cautious and slow on the diversions and umpteen speedbreakers on those diversions. Khambatki ghat had a traffic snarl due to a closure of 1 lane out of 3 lanes following a landslide which ate up 10 minutes. Bus did not have to fag away on this ghat too and performed well. Took a good 2 hours 25 minutes to cover Pune--Satara 100 kms sector which is under widening for 6 laning (including a total of 25 mins break time). Once past Satara, the bus picked up consistent speeds in the range of 90-100 kmph on the supersmooth highway. Quick biobreaks happened at some of the toll plazas enroute. At one point, we might have been doing 85-90 kmph when Konduskar pink Volvo B9R multiaxle also working 11.30pm Pune-Kolhapur service overtook us. We stayed right behind the Konduskar though. We overtook the NWKRTC Airavat Volvo B9R Aurangabad-Pune-Belgaum bus that had left about 20 minutes before us from Pune. NEETA red Volvo B9R doing 11.30pm Pune-Kolhapur passed us when we had stopped for a biobreak. Came across / overtook many other premium and non-premium buses heading to various destinations but not going into those details. Satara--Karad 55 kms was covered in 40 minutes and Karad--Kolhapur 70 kms was covered in 50 minutes. Pax who got down at Karad were individually informed about the alighting point by the attender. He did not resort to disturb everyone's sleep by switching on main lights and shouting loudly, that we often see most operators do. This helped people travelling till end of the destination have an uninterrupted peaceful sleep. We exited NH4 for Kolhapur city by 3.35 a.m and reached Kolhapur bus stand at 3.45 a.m sharp. We were 45 mins ahead of the scheduled arrival at 4.30 a.m. Either ways, it takes a max of 3.5-4 hours on this route at night time, so we were actually on time that way. Konduskar pink B9R arrived in the immediate next minute and NEETA red B9R and NWKRTC B9R arrived within next 5 minutes. NEETA red Volvo B9R was pretty maintained too. My personal observations of the bus made during the course of the journey -
1. Its a looooong bus. Get inside and the last row seems even more far !
1. The interiors of the bus are fairly good if not lavish. I did not find it that bad. The seating layout is floored i.e its at the same level as that of the gangway (unlike elevated in previous mercs or existing scanias or volvos) but probably that is done to accomodate more space in the boot and hence called SuperHighDeck ?? This may not give a premium feel but somehow the typical green matting in the floor in the gangway didn’t make it appear that bad either.
2. Driver cabin looks too swanky !
3. This bus has 55 seats i.e 14 rows with 2 seats foregone near emergency exit. This means adequate and good leg space between the rows. Passenger consoles were placed appropriately. Compare this with APR Mercedes SHD down south which has 15 rows and 61 seats resulting in cramped legroom !
4. Seats are different from the previous mercs, being more stuffed and more comfortable. They were of the ''Crystal'' model ( not sure if it is from Harita)
5. Passenger console is almost same as in earlier Mercs but looks a little different. AC vents are drop down type and cooling effect was effective enough.
6. Overhead luggage space –This is surely more than a Volvo or Scania and there are no partitions in between, its continuous.
7. Night lamps in the gangway - I was mighty impressed with this one. Blue lights has become a standard in all premium buses these days - but the ones in Scania are annoyingly bright, the ones in new Volvos are
okay while the ones in this particular Merc SHD were of moderate intensity. Not too bright but still served the puprose. I didn't feel a wee bit of irritation on my eyes whenever I woke up from sleep. Soothing lights I must say !
8. Emergency hammers provided for each window. Full sized emergency exit at the rear
9. Window side handrest is foldable in new Mercs too. I always find this feature a good one, helps to create more space in your seat in case you need.
10. No digital clock inisde the bus. The air vents that opened directly on the windows in earlier Mercs have been done away with. They open into the overhead luggage rack ( akin to Volvo or Scania)
11. Unfortunately the charging point in new Merc SHDs is now placed near the floor which is inconvenient ( same as in a Volvo or Scania). Other day I spoke about how perfectly it was placed across the level of thighs in earlier Mercs.
12. It’s not that supersilent inside the coach and I felt the audibility of engine noise being exactly the same as earlier Mercs. Bus seemed to have some mild rattles but not a big issue. I believe an average passenger wouldn't notice these things , as the bus overall is fairly good and the ride is comfortable. I had a peaceful ride though the suspension seemed a bit on harder side ( or may be my subjective perception).
13. ODO reading was 44,700 odd kms.
14. Last but not the least, for the first time ever in my life, I saw the bus crew insisting first row passengers to engage seat belts throughout the journey. They made this request politely but ensured all 4 pax in first row wore them. I have never in a govt. Volvo too seen anyone being bothered one bit about the importance of seat belt. Extremely impressed with GPT crew
Ratings- Overall 5/5
Driving was smooth and safe, no honking , no jerky brakings et all ; Amenities provided were only water bottles, no blankets given ; TVs had to be obviously kept switched off ; Charging point remained ON
I am a regular with Konduskar Volvos on this route and have always had good experiences with them but GPT too lived upto its legacy of providing a clean service.
I would highly recommend GPT Mercedes SHD for Pune-Kolhapur-Pune. GPT sent a ''Thank you for travelling with us and so on……'' message at the end of the journey.
Thanks for reading
Sharing some pics of the bus I travelled, bearing regn no. MH 08 G 1600. My phone went kaput and spare phone didn't have cam, so sharing pics from google. The buses when just new probably did not have screens but now they have been put in place.
Credits for all pics - Shantanu