TSRTC, APSRTC, SCR to run Sankranti specials

Hyderabad: Come Sankranti and one can find many from the city, which has a sizeable population of settlers, heading to their respective native places. A majority in this category belongs to Andhra Pradesh.

This year the festival coincides with the January 8-16 holidays given to all educational institutions. The exodus is likely to commence from Friday, a week earlier than normally done every year.

Meanwhile, in keeping with the seasonal requirements, TSRTC and South Central Railway (SCR) have come up with special buses and trains to cater to the demand.

According to SCR officials, this month almost 197 special trains have been lined up across the country. Nearly, 80 of them will be touching the two Telugu speaking states. Southcentral zone has arranged for 92 special trains apart from 30 trains during the festival. 

 TSRTC is all set to operate 4,318 special buses from Friday to January 15 to meet the demand of commuters. Some additional boarding points along the route have also been put up to make it more convenient for the travellers. To control the smooth functioning of special buses, 200 staff members have been deployed by the corporation. RTC authorities have urged commuters to plan their trip in advance and go for early bookings in order to avoid any inconvenience, considering the festive rush that is expected.

APSRTC to operate 7000 special buses for Sankranti

APSRTC MD Dwarka Thirumala Rao said on Thursday that 7000 special buses will be operated from July 7 to 18 to meet the travel needs of the people during this Sankranti festival.

“There will be a 50 per cent additional ticket rate in the special buses and the buses would be operated based on the demand.”

Addressing a press meet here, Rao said that they are operating 35 per cent more special bus services for 11 days than the previous year. Passengers have booked their tickets in advance for the Sankranti festival. To date, there is a 60 per cent reservation for regular services, 50 per cent for special services.

He said RTC is operating 344 services to Hyderabad, 316 to Bangalore, 161 to Chennai and 60 per cent of bookings were already done.

Some 50 per cent of the reservations to the 511 bus service from Hyderabad was already booked. People coming to the state to celebrate the festival would prefer to travel by APSRTC. A call center is also provided with phone number 0866-2570005 to get necessary information and details.

On January 10, 11 and 12, some 80 per cent of seats were reserved for regular services while 60 per cent seats for special services.