HYDERABAD: The inter-city and inter-state bus services like Garuda, Super Deluxe and Rajdhani in Telangana are now more expensive than their counterparts in KSRTC and APSRTC.
The hike is more pronounced on Hyderabad-Bengaluru route where TSRTC offers a semi-sleeper ride for Rs 1,129 approximately on Garuda Plus. On the contrary, KSRTC offers it for just Rs 900 in an Airavat CC, making the latter the obvious choice for travellers.
It is not just this route, several other routes like Hyderabad- Tirupati, Hyderabad-Vijayawada have also become expensive with the present fare hike.
A super luxury bus which is a basic seater will now cost Rs 652 in TSRTC and Rs 644 in APSRTC for Tirupati-Hyderabad route.
Similarly, it will cost Rs 355 from Hyd-Vijayawada in TSRTC while it is Rs 317 on APSRTC super luxury bus. When it comes to Gaurda plus, TSRTC costs Rs 535 while APSRTC costs Rs 467, a good margin to deter the commuters.
The same is the case in inter-district services within Telangana.
For instance, a super luxury bus from Khammam-Hyderabad costs Rs 262 in TSRTC, while it is Rs 30 less in APSRTC where tickets are pegged at Rs 223. The same difference continues in deluxe services as well.
The officials, however, maintain that the issue will not persist for long, due to agreements with other state transport undertakings.
“We have an understanding with AP, TN, Maharashtra, Karnataka that the bus fare should be calculated based on the fares of the State the bus operates. So if it runs certain kilometres in Telangana and rests in Karnataka, both buses of Telangana and Karnataka will have the same price based on kilometer on distance travelled in the respective states,” an official said.