HYDERABAD: A record 52.78 lakh people travelled in TSRTC buses on Saturday alone to reach their native places on the occasion of Sankranti. Of the total passengers, 50 per cent were women, utilising the Mahalakshmi scheme, said TSRTC managing director VC Sajjanar.
He mentioned that for the first time, a control room was set up at Bus Bhavan in Hyderabad to monitor the movement of special buses. With advanced planning, the RTC was able to handle the festival rush without causing any trouble to the people, he added.
The RTC operated 1,861 special buses on Saturday to different destinations, with 1,127 special buses arranged for passengers leaving for Warangal, Vijayawada, Karimnagar, and Khammam.
The TSRTC planned to run 4,484 special buses during Sankranti and deployed 4,400 special buses on January 11, 12, and 13. So far, the RTC has arranged 6,261 special buses this season. For Sunday, the RTC planned 652 special buses and had run 450 buses till afternoon.