The JNNURM deluge .

The Deluge of JnNURM buses has really changed the way people used to travel in Hyderabad, Vijayawada & Vishakhapatnam.. The Semi Low Floor, Low Floor buses are the fruits of JnNURM. Before the arrival of JnNURM buses brought in to revamp the buses in the Metro Cities. The stringent rules of JnNURM on the design and technical specifications of bus have brought in some "REAL BUSES" and not tin boxes. Thanks to JnNURM, APSRTC  has 900 semi low floor and 250 low floor buses.

A.P.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Volvo 8400 Low Floor A/C

A.P.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Ashok Leyland Semi Low Floor

A.P.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Ashok Leyland Semi Low Floor

A.P.S.R.T.C JnNURM - TATA Low Floor A/C

A.P.S.R.T.C JnNURM - TATA Pushpak Airport Liner

And here ends the Ist Phase...

Now after the Division of States, the IInd Phase has Begun with an Initial Arrival of Volvo 8400 Low Floor A/C Buses. The 1st Batch of 18 Buses arrived in July,2014 with Light Pink Colour. Later in August,2014 the Second Batch of 25 Buses arrived with Darkened Pink Shade. Here are those Beauties...

T.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Volvo 8400 Low Floor A/C

T.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Volvo 8400 Low Floor A/C

T.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Volvo 8400 Low Floor A/C

T.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Volvo 8400 Low Floor A/C

T.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Volvo 8400 Low Floor A/C

T.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Volvo 8400 Low Floor A/C

T.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Volvo 8400 Low Floor A/C

T.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Volvo 8400 Low Floor A/C

T.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Volvo 8400 Low Floor A/C

T.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Volvo 8400 Low Floor A/C

T.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Volvo 8400 Low Floor A/C

T.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Volvo 8400 Low Floor A/C

T.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Volvo 8400 Low Floor A/C

T.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Volvo 8400 Low Floor A/C

T.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Volvo 8400 Low Floor A/C

A.P.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Volvo 8400 Low Floor A/C

A.P.S.R.T.C JnNURM - Volvo 8400 Low Floor A/C

Charminar Mini ka Story !

Launched with great intentions to provide hassle free public transport for the people of old city , APSRTC purchased 100 mini buses in February 2011. APSRTC, then had no idea that the buses would be a flop. These buses now run with a loss of Rs 12 per Km

About 100 buses  (50 TATA-Marcopolo –Star bus & 50 Ashok Leyland Stag) were procured to run on the narrow streets of old city.

Courtesy: The Hindu.

This is what happens when things are done with out planning much. APSRTC officials bought 100 buses in a hurry to introduce them under the Chief Minister’s 100 day program.  At first RTA officials from Hyderabad district denied to register the vehicles as they did not meet the emission norms of the city. Then APSRTC officials somehow managed to register the vehicles in Rangareddy district.

 TATA-MARCOPOLO STAR BUS

APSRTC officials were apprehensive about the success of theses buses as the mini buses introduced some years back in other parts of the city did not have much response. The buses were introduced in a hurry with out proper route survey and the result was devastating. The occupancy ratio was very less.

A survey was conducted then and it revealed that people mistook the mini buses to private buses because of the GREEN color. Then, the buses were repainted with red to make them look like ordinary buses.  This yielded some results and brought in some problems like the only narrow entry/exit door in front. APSRTC now has plans to widen the doors/remove the door shutters to increase the place for people to get in/out.

APSRTC did not consider the usage of mini buses as the average earning per bus is much lesser for mini buses when compared with the normal buses and the functional aspects like less space for standing and the single door entry/exit. But some how, they got in to this. These buses are bringing in more losses to the corporation which is already running on losses.

APSRTC should have taken a look at the SETWIN buses. These mini buses are more functional than that purchased by APSRTC.

                                                     

                                                         ASHOK LEYLAND-STAG

                                                         

“ALOCHINCHAKUNDA BUSSULU KONADAM ENDUKU VATIKI MANGALI PANULU CHEYYADAM ENDUKU”

After a Long Time

After a long time APSRTC has decided to replace it’s rattling old fleet of about 6000 buses which have clocked above 12 Lakh kilometers  in a phased manner. The new fleet of 6000 buses would be procured by the coming financial year end and it has already started replacing some of its buses. The new buses are being procured by the VGF of Rs 200 crores provided by the government to APSRTC  to over come the losses it has incurred because of the ongoing agitations and many other reasons. About 4000 new buses are expected to be on road by the year end and the remaining fleet of 2000 buses would arrive by next year.

Part if the new fleet, about 300 buses were flagged off by the transport minister of AP on the 25 of October. The new fleet consisted of 18 “INDRA” buses, and 2 “GARUDA Plus” buses. It also consisted of 100 CNG city buses for Hyderabad.

A CNG BUS.

DIGNITARIES AT THE EVENT.

INDRA Buses:

Indra buses have been pressed in to service to cater to the needs of middle class passengers who cannot afford to travel in a Garuda. These buses have been procured to connect the district head quarters by an A/C service so that the passengers may have comfortable journey.

These are mainly built on ASHOK LEYLAND chassis (230HP engine) by body builders like JCBL and SANVEE. Each bus costs around 38 Lakhs and about 100 buses are being procured out of which 25 have already been pressed in to service. The remaining 75 buses are expected to arrive by January 2012.The ticket prices are 1.20 Rs/Km and the minimum charge is Rs. 25.

Garuda Plus buses:

Seems APSRTC has woken up to the craze of multi-axle buses. After a long wait APSRTC has also procured 2 of the state of the art multi axle buses and it has plans to extend the fleet to 42 out of which 22 would be of VOVLVO and 20 would be of Mercedes-Benz.

For now it has procured two Mercedes-Benz buses and named them Garuda Plus. These buses would ply on long routes like Hyderabad-Shiridi and Hyderabad-Mumbai. The ticket prices would be higher than that of Garuda.

EVOLUTION

Here comes the EVOLUTION of A/C buses in APSRTC-GHMC region.
1.The first A/C bus in Hyderabad was introduced way back in 2005. The bus was called  SEETALAHAMSA . AL VIKING SLFs were used. Initially they had good patronage . But , they soon lost their importance and were cancelled . They were renamed as MEGHAMALA and re introduced as inter-city buses.
2.In 2009 , APSRTC got its first lot of JNNURM buses in the form of VOLVOs. 8 VOLVO 8400s were procured. Now, some of them are in bad shape but running strong.No more VOLVOs were added to the fleet as these buses became burden to APSRTC which is already running under losses.
3.Then came the TATA MARCOPOLO A/C buses. . Introduced in 2011, The buses had a distinctive color scheme and were named CITY-SHEETAL .The bus has problems with its doors and the A/C too.
Then, another variant of MARCOPOLO was introduced with green colour scheme . The bus is much refined when compared to the old MARCOPOLOs .

The A/C buses do not have many takers in the city and are found running empty at any time . Except for a few buses which run packed  during rush hours.

*not sure on the technical details of the marcopolos, will post them when i'm sure.

ratnamdg's photostream

ratnamdg's photostream on Flickr.

My Favorite City Buses.

Well ..
Here are are my most favorite buses of APSRTC-GHMC region .
1. The first place goes to TATA 1613C SLF . It was introduced as Metro Express. The reason I like this bus the most is because of its appearance, The bus looks good from the exterior and its interiors too are beeter than that of the AL VIKING SLF . The engine too does not make much noise and a ride in this bus is comfortable.The bus was procured in 2009 under JNNURM.
2. The second place goes to AL VIKING . Though the bus has normal chassis, The bus looks fine from exterior because of its windows and the ride quality too is good in this bus. These were introduced as City Ordinary in the year 2007 .
3. The third place goes to the AL VESTIBULE BUS . Introduced to transport more people in a bus in major routes which have more density of people, The main thing i like about this bus is the wide entry and the windows. Now, in a battered state .. this bus still is my choice

EVOLUTION

Metro liners were first introduced in 1995 for long distance luxury travel in Hyderabad. They had luxurious seats. Most of the buses were built on Ashok Leyland VIKING chassis.

In 2002 , during the national games, VEERA buses again built on Ashok Leyland chassis were introduced to facilitate transport for the athletes . The buses were introduced as VEERA bus replacing the old Metro Liners

In 2007, New buses were introduced by the name METRO DELUXE these buses were built at B.B.U,miyapur and had LED destination boards. The existing veeras were modified by creating the door at back and changing the coour scheme to green.

In 2011, The existing old Metro Deluxe buses were replaced by the new TATA MARCOPOLO low floor buses procured under JNNURM..

APSRTC.

COMING SOON