[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by thoma

I and my mother in law have to travel from Mumbai to Pune in the wee hours of 23rd Dec. Our train stops at Panvel, Thane and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and we can alight at any of the three. The given arrival timings at Panvel is 2:30am, Thane is 3:30am and LTT is 4:00am but the train is usually 2-4 hrs late!

Do we have to catch an Uber to Dadar from LTT and then a Shivneri to Pune or is it better to wait till the first train from Thane? Or will an Ola be the right choice from Panvel?

Just take an auto rickshaw to chembur S T stand opp Raj Kapoor studio on soon Panvel road. You will get all shivneri's from there plus also private cabs which take you on a per seat basis. Chembur is much closer to LTT and buses from Dadar will have to pass through Chembur.

[vivek95]

MSRTC gets Ashwamedh Scania multiaxle in new livery and it is so terribly hot. Depicts rich Maratha/Maharashtra heritage in every sense. I am not sure if this is the new Scania multiaxle or the existing white livery ones changed but there was a news a month back that MSRTC is launching 30 new premium AC buses - 15 biaxle and 15 multiaxle on intrastate and interstate routes.
Pic credits to original photographer - JVC

[vivek95]

With the addition of new SCANIA 14.5 multiaxles and 12m biaxles into their fleet, the Pune-Mumbai-Pune schedules have been greatly augmented by MSRTC.

The total number of Shivneri Volvo/Scania schedules/buses plying in just one direction from Pune to Mumbai now touches a historic and whopping 198 ( up from existing 148 ) !! And an equal number of 198 Scania/Volvo buses will ply from Mumbai to Pune. Another remarkable thing they have come up with is that the last/first bus ( whichever way you look at it ) from Pune to Mumbai now starts at 12: 30 a.m midnight and that from Mumbai to Pune will start at 12:45 a.m midnight. The introduction of late night buses had been a long pending demand by commuters.

Below is the break up of schedules as per the updation on MSRTC website:

A. Pune to Mumbai direction - total 198

1. Pune (Swargate) to Mumbai (Borivali) - 53
2.Pune (Swargate) to Mumbai (Thane) - 27
3.Pune (Swargate) to Mumbai (Dadar) -31
4.Pune (Railway station) to Mumbai (Dadar) - 87


B. Mumbai to Pune direction - total 199

1. Mumbai (Borivali) to Pune (Swargate) - 54
2. Mumbai (Thane) to Pune (Swargate ) - 27
3. Mumbai (Dadar) to Pune (Swargate) - 32
4.Mumbai (Dadar) to Pune (Railway station) - 86

Lets acknowledge a fact here that plying such a large number of premium AC buses with such high frequency is possible only on Mumbai--Pune route in India as no two bustling metro cities are so closely located ( 80 kms from exit to start ) and compliment each other as Mumbai and Pune do. The biggest challenge in front of MSRTC now is to ensure they stick to the schedules with atleast 70% punctuality. Also, we should note that on some days, two schedules might be clubbed together in case of less loads. However even factoring this, the number of schedules may not come below 170 on an average on any given day ( that's my analysis).

Another challenge MSRTC needs to tackle is the expensive fare of AC Shivneri Volvo/Scanias vs economic fares of Hirkani semiluxury non-ac buses, which also ply in huge numbers and the new ones with push back seats that are very comfortable too. Let's wait and watch if MSRTC is able to garner success with the whopping increase in Shivneri buses as opposed to the Hirkani counterparts.

[sinharishi]

My Father took the Ashwamedh Scania multiaxle today, from Borivali to Pune. Few pictures that he shared with me:

[Abudhabicars]

For some very odd reason, MSRTC has discontinued the Shivneri Mumbai-Aurangabad (Via Pune and Ahmednagar) route eff. 01JUL17.

I'm still scratching my head over why such a decision could even be made, since they used to make a killing off this route by charging 1200RS for a 350KM journey, which usually consisted of last minute passengers who couldn't get train reservations done. The most mind boggling aspect is that irrespective of there being passengers for Mumbai from Aurangabad (Or vice versa), since the bus was via Pune and Nagar, it was always decently occupied, and never really empty per se. The salt on the wounds is that MSRTC has received the Scania Multi-Axles by the dozens, to which I was assuming they would now upgrade the Mumbai-Aurangabad frequency, which is when they axed the route instead. The Multi-Axles now do Mumbai-Pune instead.

Since I found myself to be travelling to and fro Aurangabad this weekend, the only alternative while coming back for me was then the 'Semi-Luxury' Hirakini MSRTC bus, which does Aurangabad to Mumbai via Nashik. It costs 550RS and takes 10 hours to reach Mumbai. I don't know how the status quo is usually, but this route was operated by a Ashok Leyland 'Cheetah'. The crowd isn't the typically 'Shivneri' types in the Semi-Luxury option, however it soon settles down after a while and on the bright side you can keep your window open throughout the Journey, which actually is pretty fun for 10 hours. The MSRTC world beyond Shivneris is actually really really vast, and is really interesting to notice from the Operational aspect as well.

[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by Abudhabicars

For some very odd reason, MSRTC has discontinued the Shivneri Mumbai-Aurangabad (Via Pune and Ahmednagar) route eff. 01JUL17.

Why would they want to do that? Mumbai-Aurangabad shivneri anyways picks Mumbai-Pune and Pune-Aurangabad passengers so why not have the added convenience of passengers directly booked from Mumbai to Aurangabad? Even the fare of 1200 is more than (460+660) for each leg.

I can only think of one reason here. In Pune, all shivneri from Mumbai arrive and depart from Pune Station / Swargate while those from Aurangabad at Shivaji Nagar. Now this Mumbai-Aurangabad one arrives at Shivaji Nagar so there may be some conflict due to this (absolutely ridiculously reason though).

Other reason may be the cultural mismatch since Pune-Aurangabad staff is horrible and Mumbai-Pune is generally far more courteous. Same staff might be finding it difficult to switch behaviour on each leg.

[Abudhabicars]

Originally Posted by ksameer1234

I can only think of one reason here. In Pune, all shivneri from Mumbai arrive and depart from Pune Station / Swargate while those from Aurangabad at Shivaji Nagar. Now this Mumbai-Aurangabad one arrives at Shivaji Nagar so there may be some conflict due to this (absolutely ridiculously reason though).

Actually, the Mumbai-Aurangabad route doesn't have this drawback as well.

When inbound from Mumbai, it first makes a minor stop of less than 5 minutes at Pune Railway Station for the Pune bound passengers, before going on to Shivajinagar Bus Stand with the Aurangabad bound passengers, where it stops for a good 10-20 minutes to pick up passengers for Ahmednagar and Aurangabad, just like how a normal Pune-Aurangabad operation would be run.

On the return leg, the bus, similarly makes a quick minute stop at the Shivajinagar Bus Stand before continuing to Pune railway station, where it again stops for a good 10-20 minutes, picking up passengers for Mumbai, like a normal operation.

My entire point is exactly this, NOBODY loses anything if the Mumbai-Aurangabad route is run. On the contrary, MSRTC recieving the Scania Multi-Axles is just an added bonus, since it really utilises the potential of such buses. Specially considering the fact that these buses were purchased for long-distance routes such as the Mumbai-Hyderabad one, which got axed before the properly-painted lot even got delivered, lol. I believe there were talks of doing Mumbai-Goa as well.

The Scania Multi-Axles are now wasting away doing Mumbai-Pune, and also Pune-Aurangabad which the B7R covered without breaking a sweat anyway.

[ambivalent_98]

I wonder why MSRTC can't rival the services by KSRTC (sleep like a baby) which run full buses to Bangalore from Mumbai and Pune.

[carboy]

Where near Magarpatta City can I get a Shivneri or any other volvo bus for Bombay in the evening (5:00 pm or so)? Can I pre-book tickets (I want to travel to Bombay on Thursday evening - being a long weekend - there is going to be a lot of rush).

[freedom]

Originally Posted by carboy

Where near Magarpatta City can I get a Shivneri or any other volvo bus for Bombay in the evening (5:00 pm or so)? Can I pre-book tickets (I want to travel to Bombay on Thursday evening - being a long weekend - there is going to be a lot of rush).

Goto swargate and board a shivneri. You can prebook using msrtc portal or app.
Where do u want to go? MSRTC buses cover most parts. Thane Dadar Borivili etc.

If you don't want to prebook you can just goto swargate and stand in the Q. Dadar and Thane buses leave every 30 mins.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by freedom

Goto swargate and board a shivneri. You can prebook using msrtc portal or app.
Where do u want to go? MSRTC buses cover most parts. Thane Dadar Borivili etc.

If you don't want to prebook you can just goto swargate and stand in the Q. Dadar and Thane buses leave every 30 mins.

Will I get a seat on the bus on Thursday evening without pre-booking? It's the start of a long weekend.

[prateekm]

Originally Posted by carboy

Will I get a seat on the bus on Thursday evening without pre-booking? It's the start of a long weekend.

No, I know somebody who waited for 4 hours to get a seat during Ganpati last year. Either go to Swargate to catch a Shivneri or take the Neeta from Yerwada. Alternatively, you can try Blablacar/cab from station.

[agspins]

Shivneri Service between Pune - Aurangabad via Ahmednagar has started again, spotted a Multiaxle Scania Shivneri on the route last Saturday.

[carboy]

Is advance booking for Shivneri buses possible? I want to travel to Pune Friday morning & return Friday evening. Can I book tickets in advance tomorrow - how & where? I will be boarding the bus from Chembur Maitri Park & getting off at Pune station.

[prateekm]

Originally Posted by carboy

Is advance booking for Shivneri buses possible? I want to travel to Pune Friday morning & return Friday evening. Can I book tickets in advance tomorrow - how & where? I will be boarding the bus from Chembur Maitri Park & getting off at Pune station.

https://public.msrtcors.com/ticket_booking/index.php