VRL recently expanded their fleet after a very very long time, and as usual, they gave a bomb this time too! 11 B11R`s in an Order of 51 Buses from Volvo!
I had never travelled in a B11R yet, and was quite excited to make use of this chance, as VRL is a true professional in every sense- right from crew,fleet management to the operations! and, being a perfectionist VRL is, expected a rocking ride this time too.
I was aboard SRS Scania 14.5m from Ahmedabad(Jodhpur Bangalore Service) and decided to switch buses at Mumbai and take the VRL 11R. My boarding point was at 6:55pm from Kharghar, and was supposed to be dropped there by 5-5:30pm!
Ahmedabad-Mumbai sector is such a headache during the day- got traffic jams at Barauch and Near Karjan Toll Plaza, both clocking a hour of standstill each,giving my first 11R ride a close miss!
Thankfully, I was dropped off at Kharghar at 6:50pm! (phew!)
I had got a text saying KA25AA 4968 was going to be my ride home!(I was over the moon at the text, as this bus was my favorite for a reasons best known to me :P ) I knew the crew very well so called up Mr Gopal and asked him where he was, and thankfully the bus was close to 40 minutes late. Made use of the chance and did a bit of bus fanning with my friend Shubham there.
The Bus finally pulled up and the crew flashed lights at me heralding the beast`s arrival. To my surprise, the helper and the Second driver was also known to me. Exchanged Pleasantaries, said goodbye to Shubham and waded to my seat.
The Interior was typical Volvo, but had blue night lamps, (hey, not from the competition!). The panels had nice cladding and were covered nicely. Seat was comfy as usual, and the recline was as same as HS-Dx seats in Scania.
As we finished the pickups, i went to the cabin and decided to see Mr Gopalkrishna in action.
Gopalkrishna was just amazing, as he powered through the curves, ripped through the empty sections and maneuvered like a boss. His Skillset was just mind blowing! He was literally flying through the expressway and we covered the expressway, and halted for dinner near Wakad (Pune) at 8:28pm! Yes, 1 Freaking hour from Kharghar to Wakad! Gopalkrishna, You have found yourself a fan for life.
We had a delayed departure from Pune by 20 minutes and we left Katraj at 10:50pm. Again, i was in the cabin (as usual) and watched Gopalkrishna`s amazing skills. We had rains cutting our speeds from Khed Shivpur, but Gopal would not have any of it. He had complete command over the beast, and kept constant speeds and with such amazing stability, he deserves a medal for that. I was a bit tired and bid adieu to Gopal and went to sleep.
The Facelifted buses are very light and a compromise in building standard shows all over the place. the windows had constant but slight rattling from the cladding on the pillars,et al. Managed to sleep and woke up exactly at VRL Chitradurga Checkpoint in the Morning. The bus was on time even with the rains and crew change.
The beast refuelled here, averaging 2.3 kpl and the the bus soon departed after a breakfast at the Checkpoint. Mr Jairam was on the steering , and was sedately taking us to Bangalore. The bus dropped me off at Yeshwantpur at 10:50am, exactly 12 hours from Pune.
Hats off to you, Gopalkrishna! 4968 You rock! Will definitely take a ride again.
I had never travelled in a B11R yet, and was quite excited to make use of this chance, as VRL is a true professional in every sense- right from crew,fleet management to the operations! and, being a perfectionist VRL is, expected a rocking ride this time too.
I was aboard SRS Scania 14.5m from Ahmedabad(Jodhpur Bangalore Service) and decided to switch buses at Mumbai and take the VRL 11R. My boarding point was at 6:55pm from Kharghar, and was supposed to be dropped there by 5-5:30pm!
Ahmedabad-Mumbai sector is such a headache during the day- got traffic jams at Barauch and Near Karjan Toll Plaza, both clocking a hour of standstill each,giving my first 11R ride a close miss!
Thankfully, I was dropped off at Kharghar at 6:50pm! (phew!)
I had got a text saying KA25AA 4968 was going to be my ride home!(I was over the moon at the text, as this bus was my favorite for a reasons best known to me :P ) I knew the crew very well so called up Mr Gopal and asked him where he was, and thankfully the bus was close to 40 minutes late. Made use of the chance and did a bit of bus fanning with my friend Shubham there.
The Bus finally pulled up and the crew flashed lights at me heralding the beast`s arrival. To my surprise, the helper and the Second driver was also known to me. Exchanged Pleasantaries, said goodbye to Shubham and waded to my seat.
The Interior was typical Volvo, but had blue night lamps, (hey, not from the competition!). The panels had nice cladding and were covered nicely. Seat was comfy as usual, and the recline was as same as HS-Dx seats in Scania.
As we finished the pickups, i went to the cabin and decided to see Mr Gopalkrishna in action.
Gopalkrishna was just amazing, as he powered through the curves, ripped through the empty sections and maneuvered like a boss. His Skillset was just mind blowing! He was literally flying through the expressway and we covered the expressway, and halted for dinner near Wakad (Pune) at 8:28pm! Yes, 1 Freaking hour from Kharghar to Wakad! Gopalkrishna, You have found yourself a fan for life.
We had a delayed departure from Pune by 20 minutes and we left Katraj at 10:50pm. Again, i was in the cabin (as usual) and watched Gopalkrishna`s amazing skills. We had rains cutting our speeds from Khed Shivpur, but Gopal would not have any of it. He had complete command over the beast, and kept constant speeds and with such amazing stability, he deserves a medal for that. I was a bit tired and bid adieu to Gopal and went to sleep.
The Facelifted buses are very light and a compromise in building standard shows all over the place. the windows had constant but slight rattling from the cladding on the pillars,et al. Managed to sleep and woke up exactly at VRL Chitradurga Checkpoint in the Morning. The bus was on time even with the rains and crew change.
The beast refuelled here, averaging 2.3 kpl and the the bus soon departed after a breakfast at the Checkpoint. Mr Jairam was on the steering , and was sedately taking us to Bangalore. The bus dropped me off at Yeshwantpur at 10:50am, exactly 12 hours from Pune.
Hats off to you, Gopalkrishna! 4968 You rock! Will definitely take a ride again.
No comments:
Post a Comment