One cannot expect a train passenger, with heavy luggage, to change two or three city buses from different areas of the city or suburban areas to reach the railway station. Realising the importance of providing convenient bus connection to train passengers, the AP State Road Transport Corporation (APS RTC) recently introduced four new services connecting far-flung areas — Tagarapuvalasa, Madhurawada, Simhachalam and Kothavalasa — to the railway station. These are no. 222 from Tagarapuvalasa, which was earlier being terminated at the RTC Complex, no. 25 J from Seva Nagar (Madhurawada), 28 R from Simhachalam and 28 K (Metro Express) from Kothavalasa. Route numbers 28 R and 28 K pass through the railway station.
“The occupancy rate of these services is very good. Two traffic guides and a traffic inspector have been posted at the railway station terminus to guide bus passengers. The guides announce the bus route in addition to controlling the autorickshaw menace at the bus shelters,” Regional Manager Y. Jagadeesh Babu said.
These services are in addition to the number of buses already passing through the railway station from different areas of the city. Another important aspect is providing bus connectivity to passengers alighting from important originating and terminating trains.
“We are also taking measures to ensure that the buses provide convenient link to passengers going to catch and arrive by important originating/terminating trains like Janmabhoomi Express, Godavari and Ratnachal Express. Metro Express services are also being operated from Visakhapatnam railway station to Vizianagaram,” he said.
When his attention was brought to the lack of direct buses to the railway station from National Highway side (between NSTL and Thatichetlapalem), Mr. Jagadeesh Babu directed Deputy Chief Traffic Manager (Urban) A. Veeraiah Choudhary to plan a few trips on this route also.
There is a tremendous demand for direct buses from the highway to the railway station in view of the proliferation of a large number of residential colonies along the highway in the last two decades.
