HYDERABAD: With an aim to provide bus facilities to every nook and corner in the state in tune with the government’s plan of ensuring better connectivity, the state-run Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) has decided to procure around 1,200 new buses in a single buy. These buses, to be operated across the state, will be hitting the road from March next year, RTC managing director GV Ramana Rao has said.
Of the new fleet, a majority of vehicles will be utilised to replace the rickety buses which are about to complete 15 years of operations limit.
“As close to 800 buses in the corporation will be 15 years old or 13-lakh km running by March next year and need replacement. So, we have decided to purchase new buses,” he explained. The old buses will be scrapped or used to augment services on other routes or in rural areas.Soon the corporation will float tenders for procuring the buses.
“The state government will provide `160 crore and the corporation will bear the remaining burden,” he said, adding that the new buses would cost more than `300 crore. Apart from operating new buses on existing routes, the corporation is drawing up plans to create some new routes and ply 200 additional buses in rural areas. Emphasis is being laid on rural connectivity as over 1,000 villages still lack bus connectivity and major modes of transportation for people residing in these villages are private jeeps, autos and trucks, Rao said.
“The aim is to ensure that there should be no village left in the state without RTC service connectivity and we are making efforts to provide connectivity from the district and mandal headquarters to Hyderabad and neighbouring states,” he said. Last year, TSRTC had procured 1,156 buses, costing `350 crore, in a single lot for the first time after formation of Telangana.Garuda Plus (25), Indra AC (48), Super Luxury (350), Deluxe Express (about 500), Vajra (40), Palle Velugu (150) buses will be procured.
TSRTC to scrap 185 city buses in next five months
Hyderabad: In a phased manner, by March 2018, the Greater Hyderabad Zone TSRTC will scrap its 185 city buses, which were found unfit for services from its 3,850 strong fleet. According to officials, the scrapping of buses, which will complete 15 years or 13-lakh km service on road, will commence in a phased manner from next month.
“A bus which completes 13-lakh km or 15 years of operations on road, needs to be scrapped immediately, as they can be harmful to environment. The maintenance cost would be high as we have to change most of the spare parts,” said A Purushottam Naik, executive director, TSRTC Greater Hyderabad Zone. “This proposal will be included in the Annual Procurement Plan and as per the Procurement Act, they will allot the buses to us,” Naik said.