New fleet of buses to replace aging Pushpaks

Hyderabad: The airport-bound RTC buses have become cause of concern to other motorists on the busy roads leading to RGIA, Shamshabad, as these liners emit smoke, they break down en route and do not reach the bus bays on time to pick up the passengers.

The airport liners ‘Pushpak’ were started by RTC in 2012, with an aim to provide connectivity to the airport to the passengers. These buses had the problem of lower occupancy ratio since its inception.

Sources said that the occupancy ratio in the 45-seater buses was hardly 45 per cent. The RTC union leaders alleged that RTC started the services on compulsion as the airport authorities had stopped their services after facing losses.

However, these buses are very old now. There have been many complaints of pollution caused by these buses and also the emission of smoke from the rear side makes the other motorists to face inconvenience.

The air-conditioned low floor TATA Marco polo vehicles, powered by 240 HP rear mounted engine with auto transmission system are causes for the inconvenience to the motorists, said a senior official.

Motorists avoid going behind these buses because of not only the smoke emitted but also the hot air that comes through the rear engine and this problem increases during summer.

Gopa Vikram, a private employee said, “These buses emit lot of smoke from behind and also hot air. They make people uneasy to travel behind them. The problem of hot air emitted is severe during summer.”

The Pushpak services offer services to airport by charging from Rs 200 to Rs 350 depending on the travelled distance. The fares were increased by Rs 50 in last October making the journey dearer.

“The RTC services are better for single passengers but is costly if more than two passengers board as the cabs provide cheaper and more comfortable option for us,” said Rajeev, a frequent traveller.

A senior official told The Hans India that most of these buses were procured under the JNNURM scheme. These buses were not up to the standards of the corporation.

These buses have wear and tear in a quick time compared to the traditional Ashok Leyland buses generally procured by the corporation, added the official. However, the official said that this old bus fleet would be replaced with new ones. “We are planning to change the bus fleet with luggage provision.

The plan is to use mini buses which would be launched soon. Plans are afoot to run electric buses to the airport.

Recently, we have received the electric bus from Goldstone and it would be operated during this month,” said the official. Once the old fleet is transformed to new ones the problem of pollution is going to end, added the official.