Volkswagen Plant Tour For TAI-Gers in Pune on 7th March

[Mahender Singh]

Can't this tour can arranged on 10th March Monday? reason is if anyone will start on saturday (after office time) will drive in night or even on early morning of sunday, and can reach on sunday evening, have plenty of time for rest, take tour of factory on monday, and either stay or drive home on evening and join office on tuesday morning.

I can come if there's some members from Chattisgarh or Madhya pradesh is coming. Kindly update me about this.

 

[vu2gte]

I would like to join with my 11 year old son if that's okay thanks.

 

[srinivas_gs]

Re: Volkswagen Plant Tour For TAI-Gers

Both are good options. For train someone needs to take organizor roll (collecting cash booking tickers etc) If it is by mini bus what would be the cost from Bangalore? any help?

Hi Sethu, We have now three options :

1. Car/SUV :Enthusiatic journey with experience of driving to new locations. No logistic issues.
2. Train from Bangalore (to/fro): All we need is an agreement among us on the date, train and meeting point at Pune/Bangalore. This wil enable members to do their individual bookings. If required, I can volunteer for ticket organizing but no cancellations will be allowed once ticket is done (ie I will not cancel the ticket and it will be 'no show' by member). This will avoid logistical nghtmare for me. I will present the ticketing expenses at end of our trip.
3. We can arrange the minibus from Bangalore as suggested earlier by RK. This has an advantage of everyone going as a team without the tiredness of driving. This will also avoid logistical issues I believe as single member can collect the money for the bus and organize with travelling agency.

Pls. help to suggest an appropriate way so that all of us can get quickly to first step of execution - booking of tickets.

Folks, differences apart, for all important events in this tour, I would suggest Sethu to have final word as he has helped in organizing the tour and this will also bring in order without creating confusion. All of us have differnce of opinion but at some point of time, we need to converge for this tour to happen smoothly and let it be done by Sethu as he is senior who has helped in this tour. Lets decide this by today and get going.

 

[sethumurugan]

Re: Volkswagen Plant Tour For TAI-Gers

Can't this tour can arranged on 10th March Monday? reason is if anyone will start on saturday (after office time) will drive in night or even on early morning of sunday, and can reach on sunday evening, have plenty of time for rest, take tour of factory on monday, and either stay or drive home on evening and join office on tuesday morning.

I can come if there's some members from Chattisgarh or Madhya pradesh is coming. Kindly update me about this.

Friend, this date was proposed by VW since all other dates in FEB and MAR was already pre-booked/pre-planned. If not we should push this to April only for which most our members are not interested.

BTW, it is not neccesary that you should join as a group. if you are really interested in meeting other TAIgers of the entire country in one place (I think this is very rare and excellent oppurtunity) only one thing you need to do Either drive down or catch a flight if you are very busy person or just board into a train to Pune. Am sure you wont regret for this. Am saying this since i have been part of some good number of meets (city as well intercity)

I would like to join with my 11 year old son if that's okay thanks.

Actually there should n't be any problem except we ourselves feel bad on some occasions when some members want to do certain things (hope you understand) Why am saying this is I took my daughter and son to a meet (there were in 9th/7th respectively). If you could manage the kid on such situations no problem.

Hi Sethu, We have now three options :

1. Car/SUV :Enthusiatic journey with experience of driving to new locations. No logistic issues.
2. Train from Bangalore (to/fro): All we need is an agreement among us on the date, train and meeting point at Pune/Bangalore. This wil enable members to do their individual bookings. If required, I can volunteer for ticket organizing but no cancellations will be allowed once ticket is done (ie I will not cancel the ticket and it will be 'no show' by member). This will avoid logistical nghtmare for me. I will present the ticketing expenses at end of our trip.
3. We can arrange the minibus from Bangalore as suggested earlier by RK. This has an advantage of everyone going as a team without the tiredness of driving. This will also avoid logistical issues I believe as single member can collect the money for the bus and organize with travelling agency.

Pls. help to suggest an appropriate way so that all of us can get quickly to first step of execution - booking of tickets.

I have some opinions on this points.

• I always prefer the first point being a car enthusiastic.
• I like this point but we need to act fast (I like your volunteerism and thanks for that) and one train has more than 200 births available which allows as to some breathing time and finalize it in by this weekend.
• I would be the last person for this option. If we have two drivers for the vehicle then no problem. Otherwise he also would face the same problem what we are going to face about driving continuously for 12 or more hours. Just a thought. In-mean time can someone help from bangalore to find the cost of this option.

Folks, differences apart, for all important events in this tour, I would suggest Sethu to have final word as he has helped in organizing the tour and this will also bring in order without creating confusion. All of us have differnce of opinion but at some point of time, we need to converge for this tour to happen smoothly and let it be done by Sethu as he is senior who has helped in this tour. Lets decide this by today and get going.

Thanks for that Srini, But it is not my tour. We all can suggest a good things and we can freeze something which is convenient and comfort for most of us.

Yes, let us decide today.

I will start PMing by today.

 

[anshuman8]

Sethu Annae - Chennai - Bangalore in 6 Hrs is little tough, especially with breaks. I know, you will take a lot The best I have done was 6 1/2 Hrs with very minimal traffic on a weekday. So, keeping about 7 - 8 Hrs is safe.

Again, Bangalore - Pune will take about 12-14 Hrs. When I did Bangalore - Mumbai, I reached Pune in 13-14 Hrs (Full Night Drive). Return will take even more time as some of the stretches weren't as good as onward and few were under construction too. Not sure about the current status though. So, a safe bet is 13-15 Hrs.

BLR Pune should be done in 11-12 hours by car as it shows 14 hours by KSRTC Volvo.

@ Figoian : Banglore - Pune should be good around 12-13 hours at cruising speeds of 80-90 km/hr. I have done Banglore- Mumbai couple of times. It has always taken me around 12 - 13 hours on max with two long breaks equalling to 1.5 hrs for breakfast and lunch. I always start from Bangalore early in the morning around 5-5:30 and have always reached Pune by maximum of 6 in the evening.
The drive is going to be awesome the highway is a pleasure to drive but yes once you enter the Maharastra state you might find some patchwork and potholes. Pune city will surely be conjusted so you can calculate another hour or so depending where you;ll will be lodging.

Please let us know the pain points in the road conditions.

As my self and Anshuman were discussing about this today, we felt getting SUVs could give you more space and less tiredness for a long travel. Second option is to book a bus(either tempo traveller or a swaraj mazda) from Bangalore and enjoy in a group while driving wont eat your time and you can take some rest.

We had a long discussion, but its upto TAI gers to decide. Checked with rekharaom, he is doubtful to come so we are not getting 1 Storme.

I would like to put forward another option/suggestion that Chennaites can go to Bangalore first and link up with TAIgers from Bangalore and proceed to Pune by train. We have berths available (checked a while ago in IRCTC) for to and fro Bangalore-Pune.

This will help to save in vitamin M for fuel and toll gates. We can avoid travel related tiredness. But train booking, we need to do quickly and finalize the list most by this week itself.

BLR-PUNE rail timings are not good. You will waste a full day on Journey and more over trains take excess of 16 hours to reach.

 

[Gurrala74]

^^While the train option is under discussion, the most important point is when does the train reaches Pune and memebers should check in somewhere and fresh up and this takes time. I don't think VW allows if we are late for the time they specified, also expect some train delay happens what should we do, is there any train which reaches previous day night itself. Please check these things before going for train option.

For mini bus option, Sethu Sir, they have professional drivers I hope and they drive properly without tiredness(we have done a trip in a swaraj mazda with families some time back, it was comfortable maintaining the timing) only issues will be the bus people have to maintain them selves to be their in pune for a day, this may be embrassing at times.

If you are not getting members with SUV's no issues, get good sedans like Manza diesel/ Ertiga, Enjoy or a Ritz/Figo diesel which will do with 4 people easily. I remember my trip of M800 5 people on board to Kanyakumari which was a 4000km trip in a petrol car, so this trip shouldn't be a problem when 4 people driving, but please avoid night drive strictly

 

[Sandykudva]

I have been reading the comments by each and every member , I know its a bit difficult for you'll to decide on modes of transport.

As per the list there are about 8-10 people from Bangalore/Chennai.

All Calculations i am showing from Bangalore-Pune as there are just 2-3 people from Chennai who will be joining people in Bangalore.

1) Car : Considering the Number of people you'll will require about 2 sedans or one hatch and a UV for comfortable travel. Now the calculation i will be doing as per my knowledge and things may vary a little.

The Distance from Bangalore to Pune will be about 800 kms and for safety basis i will be considering another 150 kms for internal travel so the total distance from Bangalore - Pune - Bangalore ( Including internal travel ) will be 1750 kms. Now i will be taking a very less average of a car just for safety i.e 12 km/ltr.

The Calculation
Total Distance - 1750 kms
Average - 12 km/ltr
Total Fuel Required - 146 ltrs
Cost of Fuel : 9350 Rs ( Diesel ) 12300 Rs ( Petrol )
Toll Booth : 1600 Rs ( Both Ways)
Price Per Person for Travel :- 2750 Rs ( Diesel + Sedan ) 1400 Rs ( Diesel + UV ) 3500 Rs ( Petrol + Sedan ).
*(Diesel Price 64 Rs/Ltr & Petrol price 84 Rs/Ltr)

2) Bus & Train : The Volvo AC Bus

Total Cost Of travel ( Bang-Pune-Bang) - 2200- 2400 Rs per person
Cost Of Internal travel : Depends

The Train

One of the cheapest mode of travel

Total Cost of Travel ( Bang-Pune-Bang) - 800-1000 ( Sleeper ) & 2000-2200 ( 3 Tier AC )
Cost of internal travel : Depends

3) Hiring a Mini Bus Or Tempo Travler : I am not aware about these but again the price will depend on whether the person is charging per kilometer wise or per day wise. But then again there will be the overnight halt charges for the driver. The Toll will be again bourne by you'll ( Considering that it is a mini bus the Toll will also be more ) .

I have only considered the travel charges here as no matter how you'll will be travelling all will be paying for accomodation.

Seeing all these mediums i feel that the self drive is the best which gives you'll the freedom to travel all places without dependancy and time limit. Also as shown in the figures above the worst case of a petrol is also comparatively cheaper for the whole journey. Also with Self drive you'll will be able to experience a Road trip, A Plant Tour & Mini All India Meet.

Originally Posted by anshuman8
Please let us know the pain points in the road conditions.

There is no such pain points on the highway. Its just that the Karnataka roads are maintained much better than the Maharastra ones so you might find some potholes or rough patches not much.

 

[Figoian]

Puneites can confirm how about a small but nice trekking adventure to Singhad hill? Heard that it will not take much time and also on the top, one can see many forts built by Shivaji (like Raigarh etc) along with beautiful view of the western ghats.

Sinhagad would really be a good choice. We can get the cars upto a certain point and trek upwards. It's an awesome place, but will tire you out for sure.

While the train option is under discussion, the most important point is when does the train reaches Pune and memebers should check in somewhere and fresh up and this takes time. I don't think VW allows if we are late for the time they specified, also expect some train delay happens what should we do, is there any train which reaches previous day night itself. Please check these things before going for train option.

Valid point. Moreover, we should also consider logistics like Taxis from & to Railway stations at both places. That's again a cost and time factor.

For mini bus option, Sethu Sir, they have professional drivers I hope and they drive properly without tiredness(we have done a trip in a swaraj mazda with families some time back, it was comfortable maintaining the timing) only issues will be the bus people have to maintain them selves to be their in pune for a day, this may be embrassing at times.

Hiring such buses will be an expensive affair. Other than the rent for 2 - 3 days, Toll, Parking, Driver Bata etc. are additional.

If you are not getting members with SUV's no issues, get good sedans like Manza diesel/ Ertiga, Enjoy or a Ritz/Figo diesel which will do with 4 people easily. I remember my trip of M800 5 people on board to Kanyakumari which was a 4000km trip in a petrol car, so this trip shouldn't be a problem when 4 people driving, but please avoid night drive strictly

Yup, if not SUVs, other cars mentioned are good and comfortable too.

 

[anshuman8]

I can start only on 6th late afternoon or early evening. In case no other member is joining me, I might take a Volvo and reach very early morning on 7th.

 

[Gurrala74]

I might take a Volvo and reach very early morning on 7th.

Be careful buddy !!, better you sleep in the day time and wake in the night
8 dead after luxury bus meets with accident near Mumbai

 

[pras]

Wonderfull Calculation Sandy :)

I have applied for a leave on 6th and 7th. Let me see the response and update. As of now still tentative.

As for the travel i also will feel it is good to have a road trip and i can hop into anybody vehicle and share both driving and the cost.

 

[Gurrala74]

I think Bangalore and Chennai friends should apply for leave on 6th and 7th. Try and have a meeting together on a weekend at a place between Chennai and Bangalore and discuss all the options and conclude some decisions about rides, starting time, pooling, stay, return

 

[Raja]

Be careful buddy !!, better you sleep in the day time and wake in the night
8 dead after luxury bus meets with accident near Mumbai

There are 100 of accidents happening all around India , in cars , Volvos , bikes . We just can't pick one isolated incident .

There is more or less same risk involved if one comes driving in a car to Pune too . Infact less risk in a Volvo since the drivers are seasoned .

 

[Gurrala74]

^^Was joking with him Raja, nothing serious and I agree with you completely

 

[sethumurugan]

RK Sir, Dont scare people

Even I feel road trip is the best and as Sandy said three in one (plant tour/mine meet/long drive). I dont mind bringing my sparky (hope people like to share the petrol cost) Just joking.

BTW, Srini what car do you own? what are the possibilities from your side.