VIJAYAWADA: With the Centre giving way to hassle-free interstate transportation in the fourth phase of ‘Unlock’, the Andhra Pradesh State Transport Corporation may soon start bus services to Chennai.
“The RTC services are likely to commence in a week or two. They will proceed only till Chennai and a decision on whether to ply buses to other parts of Tamil Nadu will be taken later,” Special Task Force officer MT Krishna Babu told TNIE on Tuesday.
“Interstate road transport generally depends on an agreement between the two states, which is renewed every five years. Our agreements with Karnataka and TN has lapsed and, before we could enter into another one, a pandemic was upon us,” he said. “At present, neither the Tamil Nadu government approached us to operate bus services nor have we initiated anything. But things are likely to change soon.”
Considering the fact that Chennai is one of the highest revenue generating destinations for APSRTC, a plan is underway to begin operations on the Chennai route from a few cities in AP, he said.Meanwhile, negotiations with the Telangana government to restore interstate bus transport are underway. “During a discussion with the Telangana government, we agreed to reduce the distance we cover to 50,000 km... so that both states cover equal distance in each other’s territory,” he noted.