RTC to replace 800 buses in city

Chief Minister flags off mini-buses and air-conditioned buses at Charminar

Maiden trip: Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy flagging off a low-floor air-conditioned bus from Charminar in Hyderabad on Monday. Photo: Mohammed Yousuf

The Greater Hyderabad Zone of APSRTC, which inducted 50 air-conditioned buses and 100 mini buses, is planning to replace nearly 800 city buses, which have clocked more than 12 lakh kilometres, the corporation Vice-Chairman and MD, B. Prasada Rao, disclosed here on Monday.

In an informal chat with the media persons after , Mr. Rao said the replacement could take place in the next six months.

“We want to offer best services to our customers,” Mr. Rao said, adding that the 37-seater mini-buses will be operated in Old City routes exclusively, while the air-conditioned ones will ply on other routes.

The RTC is operating 36 air-conditioned buses already on different routes. With the increase in the fleet of air-conditioned buses with Monday's induction, the Corporation is planning to offer its services for transporting employees of corporate companies. The RTC plans to enter into agreements with different private companies and operate exclusive trips during peak hours to pick up and drop their employees from different localities to respective workplaces, said Mr. Rao.

To improve the seat occupancy ratio in air-conditioned buses, authorities are mulling the option of operating the buses to a few districts during nights in summer as passengers prefer air-conditioned buses.

Initially, authorities plan to operate a few air-conditioned buses to Mahabubnagar, Karimnagar, and Nalgonda districts, which are close to the city, said Greater Hyderabad Zone Executive Director A. Purushotham Naik.

Maximum utilisation

These buses will be operated from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. as inter-district buses, and during the day, the fleet will ply as city buses. To begin with, 10 buses will be operated from April 15, and based on the response from commuters, more number of buses will be pressed into service. The objective is to make maximum utilisation of the buses, said Mr. Naik.

Chandrayangutta MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi, Charminar MLA Ahmed Pasha Quadri, MLC Syed Aminul Hasan Jafri, GHMC Mayor B. Karthika Chandra Reddy, and others were present on the occasion.