Pune: Puneites planning to attend the strawberry festival at Mahabaleshwar have a good news in store as the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has started its first AC bus service ‘Shivshahi’, for Mahabaleshwar from Pune for Rs 207. The bus which will start from Shivajinagar every day in the morning promises to be cheaper than the existing MSRTC’s premium ‘Shivenri’ bus service.
MSRTC took the decision to start Shivshahi on this route after the success of the bus on the Panaji route. The hill station, which lies 120 km from Pune, has always been a favoured destination among tourists for decades and witness around 5,000 tourists in a week during the peak season.
According to officials of MSRTC, the Panaji service started from Pune recorded 60-70 per cent bookings every day and this success pushed us to start a similar service for Mahabaleshwar. There was no AC bus service from Pune to Mahabaleshwar and many would prefer the private tour operators to go to the place. The bus fare is lower than other private operators and thus we started getting bookings for it in less time,” said Srinivas Joshi, Divisional Controller, Pune, MSRTC.
“Giving a tough competition to private tour operators, Shivshahi will make three trips daily to Mahabaleshwar. Due to non-availability of proper AC bus service of public transport tourist people use to travel to Mahabaleshwar in private buses,” said Joshi adding that the ticket rate is nearly Rs 300 less compared to private operators.
The buses are plying from Shivajinagar every day at 6.15 am, 7.45 am and 10 am. And will start from Mahabaleshwar at 11.30 am, 1 pm and 3 pm.
The Shivshahi AC bus service is promised to be cheaper than the existing MSRTC’s premium Shivneri brand of high-end Volvo/Scania buses. Shivshahi will be the middle version of existing non-AC push back Hirkani/Asiad semi-luxury buses and Shivneri premium segment,” informed Joshi.
Jai Patil, an IT professional and a resident of Kondhwa, said, “It is good news that MSRTC has finally started AC bus service from Pune to Mahabaleshwar. We had to dole out Rs 5,000 per trip. But with Shivshahi, many would plan a trip to the hill station at a lesser cost,” he said.
