Now, 'gents special' bus service rolled out to ease travel travails

Hyderabad : There was a time when the State-run buses used to arrange a special seat for female passengers, and special buses occasionally ran on specific routes. Now, with the State government scheme providing free travel for women in TSRTC buses, the number of women passengers on buses has significantly increased, causing men to struggle to find a seat. So, TSRTC introduced the ‘gents special’ bus in the Ibrahimpatnam-LB Nagar route during peak hours.

It has been observed that after the introduction of free bus travel for women in the State, some women are even sitting in the back seats of the bus, causing overcrowding and inadvertently leading to challenges, especially for male passengers. In response to this issue, the officials of Ibrahimpatnam Depot introduced a men-exclusive bus during peak hours.

Recently, The Hans India raised the issue of passengers, especially college students, on the Ibrahimpatnam-LB Nagar route, who have been facing innumerable difficulties. The Hans India published ‘Free bus travel takes a toll on city students’ on Wednesday and mentioned that the overcrowding situation has become problematic for the large number of students, both male and female, who daily commute to educational institutions in the route; even the female students were forced to footboard. In Ibrahimpatnam, over 2,000 college students are reportedly facing difficulties due to the scarcity of buses. Many students are seen running several metres to catch these buses, often resorting to foot boarding, a risky practice that could lead to accidents.

As a result, the Ibrahimpatnam depot of RTC considered the issue and initiated buses exclusively for men on the route during peak hours. The TSRTC Ibrahimpatnam depot launched the ‘Gents Special’ service on the Ibrahimpatnam-LB Nagar route on Thursday to manage heavy crowds during rush hours, especially for college students. TSRTC executive director V Venkateshwarlu said that owing to the huge rush on the route, as over a dozen colleges were present and several hundred students commuted in RTC buses, to meet the demands of passengers, especially college students, the bus service was initiated. “A special bus for male passengers was arranged at 8:30 am and also during evening hours on the route,” said Venkateshwarlu.