RTC rolls out five out of 40 eBuses

Hyderabad: Five out of the 40 electric buses have been put to service by the Telangana Stat Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) and the remaining 35 buses would be pressed into service soon, according to senior officials. The RTC buses make close to 47,000 trips across the city carrying up to 40 lakh passengers on a daily basis. At present, the Greater Hyderabad zone has 9,850 buses. The 39-seater eBuses will be ferrying people from different locations in the city to the Hyderabad International Airport at Shamshabad. According to sources, the airport buses are incurring huge losses and the introduction of electric buses would offset the loss. The cost of maintenance also decreases by 25 % with eBuses.

"Fares have remained the same but the expenditure has increased. The finance department is facing trouble due to lack of funds, hike in fuel prices and keeping up with the maintenance of the buses and by obtaining spare parts has added to the expenses," said CV Kumar, TSRTC regional executive, Greater Hyderabad.

Officials say that after the commencement of metro rail, there has been a drop in the usage of buses. Mallika, a resident of Uppal, said, "I started using the metro and it saves me considerable time. I used to reach home after 9 pm., thanks to the metro I am now at home by 7 pm."