Hyderabad: TSRTC to use Volvo buses in city for long routes

Hyderabad: As the Metro Rail made inroads into its turf and got a huge response from the public, all the high-end air-conditioned Volvo buses of RTC in the city are confined to the depots for a long time. However, the TSRTC authorities are planning to revive their services and make use of them for inter-State services. They will embark on long distances from Sankranti to clear the rush of passengers.

The TSRTC buses were limited to depots for more than six months because of lockdown and though the services were started later, only a limited number of buses came onto the roads. The city services were started after a gap of 187 days, on September 25 but with just 25 per cent of the fleet. The numbers were gradually increased to more than 50 per cent. However, the Corporation is unable to generate good revenues from ordinary buses as also from AC buses.

The corporation has got about 80 high-end Volvo buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). However, there has not been much revenue generated through these luxury buses. After a lot of deliberations, the authorities decided to utilise them in the IT corridor. The corporation initially raked in good revenues. But after the Metro Rail was introduced, the patronage by the public waned, said an official adding there was also some adverse impact by the RTC strike, which went on for a long time.

TSRTC faced some issues after entering into an agreement with regard to inter-state services with the neighbouring states. Even as services to neighbouring States increased, it was not finding new buses to operate on those routes.

It was then that the officials decided to shift the AC buses from the city services to the inter-state service. Also, the long-distance inter-state services buses generate more revenue for the corporation.