Passengers travelling to Chennai, Tirupati and Hyderabad by Garuda (Volvo) services of AP State Road Transport Corporation are hereafter saved the trouble of carrying meals from their homes.
RTC has introduced onboard meals, on these three long-distance services.
RTC Executive Director (Operations), Hyderabad, S. Nagaraju and E.D. (Vizianagaram Zone) A. Venkateswara Rao formally launched the meals service on the Visakhapatnam–Chennai Garuda service at the Dwaraka Bus Station (RTC Complex) here on Monday evening. Minutes before the bus commenced its journey, he announced the introduction of ‘meals service' and appealed to the passengers to make use of it as it would help in reducing running time.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Venkateswara Rao said that the RTC has entered into an agreement with Sai Ram Parlour to provide tasty food to passengers at reasonable rates.
Eight menus
There were eight different types of menus and the passenger could either indicate his choice either at the time of advance booking of the tickets or at least two hours ahead of the commencement of the journey.
The speed of the Garuda services has also been increased, without compromising on safety, to compete with private bus operators. The drivers on these services were having vast experience and ‘excellent braking' has been ensured for these services. The onboard meals service was introduced on Garuda services to Tirupathi and Hyderabad also on an experimental basis.
He said that the onboard meals service would be extended to other long distance services also, depending on the patronage of the passengers.
He was optimistic that the doing away with the stoppage for meals en route and the increase in speed would help RTC services to reach their destination much ahead of their private counterparts.
Regional Manager (Visakhapatnam Region) Y. Jagadeesh Babu and Deputy Chief Traffic Manager A. Veeraiah Choudhary were present.
TIMs
Ticket Issuing Machines (TIM s) for conductors of ‘palle velugu' (rural services) were inaugurated at the Maddilapalem depot.
