When the APSRTC introduced the swanky low-floor JNNURM buses in 2010, commuters in the capital expected to have a comfortable ride. However, complaints began to pour in soon from commuters about rattling sounds and other problems with the buses. Drivers too had complaints about recurring glitches while operating the vehicles.
Initially, RTC mechanics identified a few minor glitches and attended to them at various Corporation workshops in the city. However, with complaints pouring in, the RTC authorities are now finally making the automobile companies, which supplied these buses under JNNURM, take up repair works and fix the problems.
The RTC had purchased 1,540 luxury buses under JNNURM phase-I in 2010-11. Of these, 1,000 were sanctioned for Hyderabad and the rest for Vijayawada, Tirupati and Visakhapatnam. Among the 1,000 procured for the capital, the authorities discovered that as many as 650 buses developed glitches frequently.
Commuters and drivers complained of problems such as vibration in the rear side and footboards which senior RTC officials said were generally connected with the structure of the buses.
All these issues were brought to the notice of the respective companies that manufactured the buses, and repairs costing Rs. 60,000 to Rs. 75,000 per bus were taken up. Glitches in over 200 buses have already been fixed, and those in the rest will be corrected in another two months. Meanwhile, senior APSRTC officials said a report had been sent on the problems to the JNNURM authorities.
