RTC operated 3,392 special buses during Pre-Sankranti

Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) operated 3,392 special services during the pre-Sankranti period from January 6 to 14 and a large number of passengers availed the facility.

The corporation in a statement on Tuesday said that necessary arrangements have been made for the return journey from Andhra Pradesh to various destinations, including Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and other places.

It state that last year, the RTC operated 2,400 special services during the pre-Sankranti period. It said a large number of people from Telangana, AP and other places preferred the APSRTC to other services in view of the adequate number of buses operated at normal fare. The facility of 10 per cent concession on return journey ticket had also attracted passengers towards the APSRTC.

The RTC is planning to run 3,120 special bus services to various destinations from Andhra Pradesh for the return journey. The corporation earned additional revenue of Rs 7.90 crore this year compared to the previous year's Rs 7.17 crore.

It earned total revenue of Rs 141 crore this pre-Pankranti season compared to Rs 107 crore last year.

RTC operated 1,483 special services from Hyderabad to various parts of Andhra Pradesh this season as against 824 services last year.

The corporation appealed to the passengers to avail the advanced reservation facility for the return journey from the state.

Sankranti is the first and the most important festival for the Telugu people and lakhs of people who are living in Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and other places came to their native places in the state from January 6 onwards to celebrate the festival with their beloved ones and the family members.

Important bus stations in cities like Vijayawada, Guntur, Tirupati, Vizag, Kakinada and other cities had a very heavy rush during the pre Sankranti season as lakhs of passengers arrived to celebrate the three day Sankranti festival.