VIJAYAWADA: To meet the passenger rush during the Sankranti festival, the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) deployed 6,795 special bus services from various depots across the State. The special buses will ferry passengers to various places in the State and the neighbouring Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu from January 6 to 18.
The managing director and vice chairman of APSRTC, Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao, said the special buses are operating on normal tariff in the interest of the common man. “In a relief to passengers, APSRTC decided not to charge extra bus fare even for special bus services. The same was implemented last year and observed positive response from passengers,” he said.
As many as 1,600 buses will be operated to Hyderabad, 40 to Chennai, 250 to Bengaluru, 300 to Vijayawada, 290 to Visakhapatnam, 230 to Rajahmundry, 70 to Tirupati and 790 buses to other places, he informed and added that another 3,225 bus services are planned to operate on return journeys.
“In addition, nodal officers in the ranks of depot managers, senior officers and traffic managers would be deputed in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and other depots to monitor the special buses and to coordinate with the passengers at different depots. Reservation facility has been provided for the special buses. Passengers can book their tickets in advance through www.apsrtconline.in, through the booking agents or APSRTC mobile app. In addition, passengers booking to and fro journey tickets will get a 10 percent discount on bus base fare,” he said.Also, a 24x7 call centre (0866-2570005) would be set up for disseminating information on the special services, and all the festival special buses would be provided with GPS tracking systems, he added.