HYDERABAD: The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) which claims that it is slowly coming out of losses is reducing its services contrary to the expectations that they should be enhanced. After reducing the fleet from more than 3,800 buses in Greater Hyderabad Zone to 2,800 buses, TSRTC has brought down the number if depots in the city from 29 to 26.
In the name of rationalisation and optimization of bus schedules, RTC has merged Ranigunj 1 & 2, Musheerabad 1 & 2 depots to other depots. With this, schedules from Ranigunj and Musheerabad depots have been transferred to Barkatpura, Picket, Mehdipatnam, Rajendranagar, Kacheguda, Farooqnagar, Miyapur, Jeedimetla and Faluknama depots.
Moreover, with the transfer, the number of schedules has also come down. Apart from schedules, the crew has also been transferred to the respective depots. Sources in TSRTC said that instead of augmenting the bus fleet and increasing the depots, TSRTC for their own reasons is reducing the services. Transfers were made as per the whims and fancies of the management irrespective of seniority, said a reliable source.
At a time when the city is expanding and its population increasing every year, there has been a huge demand for public transportation. Instead of increasing the number of buses in the wake of a rise in passengers, TSRTC has cut down 1,000 city buses since 2019. Moreover, city limits are expanding and there is a need to introduce more buses and operate the services in new routes. It is learnt that RTC has not inducted new buses in the city except for AC and electric ones for a long time.
Squeezing out every mile