TSRTC to run 4,981 festival special buses

HYDERABAD: At least 2.5 lakh seats have been made available in festival special buses to be operated by Telangana State Road Transport Corporation for ensuing Sankranti. Of the total seats, nearly a lakh seats are available in buses being operated to various destinations in Andhra Pradesh alone.
Despite the occupancy ratio in the buses not coming back to pre-Covid average of 70% and hovering around 65% in the districts and 45% in Greater Hyderabad, TSRTC has decided to operate 4,981 festival specials.More specials would be operated depending upon the rush of passengers.
These specials would be operated between January 8 and January 14. However, passengers have to shell out 50% more as bus fares in these specials. “The fare is 50% more because these are festival specials being operated in addition to existing daily services. Almost all the time, these specials return empty to depots because there is hardly any occupancy in the return direction during festivals,” TSRTC regional manager, Rangareddy, Vara Prasad told TOI.
Of 4,981 festival specials, as many as 1,600 buses would ply to 30 towns and cities in Andhra Pradesh, including Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Guntur, Kadapa, Chittoor, Nellore and Tirupati.
These festival specials are mostly being drawn from Greater Hyderabad region, where only 50% of the fleet is being operated presently. Of the festival special buses, as many as 3,380 buses would be operated to various destinations within Telangana and other neighbouring states, and another 1,600 to Andhra Pradesh alone between January 8 and January 14.
To avoid traffic jams at Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station, Koti and Jubilee Bus Station in Secunderabad, these specials would be operated from various route destinations in the city including Old CBS, , Lingampalli, Miyapur X Road, KPHB, Ameerpet, Telephone Bhavan, LB Nagar, Aramghar, ECIL X Road, Jeedimetla, Tarnaka and Uppal X Roads from January 9 to January 12 when the festival rush is expected to peak.
“Over 200 officers and employees will monitor operation of these specials from various destinations and facilities have also been provided at these points for the convenience of the passengers,” Vara Prasad said and appealed to the people to make advance reservations to avoid last-minute rush.
Passengers could book their tickets in advance for “to and fro” journey from bus stations and authorised ticket booking agents located in different places in the city and also online at www.tsrtconline.in .