How do we start writing about 2017. Should we start with the pitfalls or should we talk about the small but significant changes to service. Okay, let us start with some good news. After a very long time, both APSRTC and TSRTC replaced their old buses with new fleet. While APSRTC continued the work it started in 2016, TSRTC started aggressively this year and is continuing to replace many of its buses. However, not everything is happy news. Let me take a step back and say 2017 was the year of experiments for both the corporations. Experiments that have costed them hard.
APSRTC and TSRTC introduced three new products each this year. Some of them outright bizarre. In 2016, the chief minister of Telangana convened a meeting to discuss the shortcomings in TSRTC. The chief minister "suggested" TSRTC to start operating mini buses and increase services to places like Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. Our sources in TSRTC say no one in the corporation was confident about the idea of operating mini buses. However, TSRTC received the first set of Mini A/C buses in late 2016. These buses were branded Vajra and were supposed to be used on services not exceeding 4 hour journey time. Selling point for these buses was the ability to board at important landmarks close to home and not in bus terminals far away.
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| TSRTC's shot at redefining mobility. Vajra Bus. |
We expected Vajra buses to be launched early in the year so as to establish the product before summer peak. How ever, due to reasons unknown the launch kept getting postponed and the buses entered service only in May. Starting from the ability to buy tickets only through an app or the website to not picking up passengers from major bus terminals, The product was limited by its design. Months in to service, ridership numbers never picked up. Changes have been made to the service since then but competition with buses of bigger size starting at convenient locations is not helping Vajra.
As if the experiment with Vajra buses wasn't enough, TSRTC launched non a/c buses branded Mini Pallevelugu. When launched, it was said these buses will serve remote villages that are yet to be connected. We thought it was a great idea considering the better fuel efficiency and the lower maintenance costs of mini buses. However, as more and more buses started entering service, it was evident that most of the buses were being operated as non stop / limited halt services between major towns. This defeated the entire purpose of buying these buses. Speaking of which, how can I not mention the condition of JnNURM buses. APSRTC has given up on operating the JnNURM mini buses on Tirumala ghats. Bear in mind, these buses were to be operated as city buses in Tirupati. They buses have now been shifted to Srikalahasti and Chittor depots to be operated as non stop services to near by religious sites.
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| All new product.. Semi Express ! |
Kesineni travels drama started in February this year. By complaining about illegal operations of sleeper buses registered in Arunachal Pradesh and Puducherry and subsequently closing their private travel business, Kesineni travels might have just opened up the 2+1 sleeper business in Andhrapradesh. For those who don't know already,until this year sleeper buses with 2+1 configuration were not allowed in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. However, there was demand for these buses. Hence private operators used to register them in other states and operate here.
APSRTC operates sleeper buses branded Vennela. These have berths similar to a first class ac coach in a train. Vennela never took off as expected because of the exorbitant fare which was necessary because of the limited number of berths. To address this problem, APSRTC planned to convert the existing fleet to have more berths in 2+1 arrangement. However, the corporation could not get these buses registered owing to the motor vehicle rules. Soon after the Kesineni Travels drama ended and 2+1 sleepers were made legal, APSRTC sprung in to action and launched a new product Vennela Economy. Currently there is one pair of these buses being operated on Vijayawada Bangalore route. APSRTC plans to expand the fleet in 2018.
APSRTC operates sleeper buses branded Vennela. These have berths similar to a first class ac coach in a train. Vennela never took off as expected because of the exorbitant fare which was necessary because of the limited number of berths. To address this problem, APSRTC planned to convert the existing fleet to have more berths in 2+1 arrangement. However, the corporation could not get these buses registered owing to the motor vehicle rules. Soon after the Kesineni Travels drama ended and 2+1 sleepers were made legal, APSRTC sprung in to action and launched a new product Vennela Economy. Currently there is one pair of these buses being operated on Vijayawada Bangalore route. APSRTC plans to expand the fleet in 2018.
APSRTC (undivided) launched its first Multi Axle bus branded Garuda Plus and low cost AC product Indra on January 26 2011. These buses have since clocked more than 13 lakh kilometers and are in need of refurbishment. Both APSRTC and TSRTC have engaged a private bus body fabricator in Hyderabad to refurbish the buses. While APSRTC is refurbishing all of its Indra fleet, TSRTC has just started with the Mercedes fleet. At the same time both the corporations have started scrapping some of these buses that have major mechanical problems.
After Multi Axle buses became mainstream, very few operators from south India invested in premium AC buses. State transport undertakings were no different. Instead, they focused on Ashok Leyland's front engine AC buses. APSRTC surprised us all again by announcing it is looking to introduce a new affordable AC product wedged between Indra and Garuda Plus. It was supposed to be called "Krishnaveni". As details emerged we were not at all thrilled to know they were going to buy Corona buses.
Corona's sleeper buses have been successfully operated by KSRTC and some other private operators but their normal buses never saw customers. APSRTC launched the buses in April and surprise surprise.. they were branded Garuda. First addition to Garuda fleet in seven years. Corona buses soon developed problems and the initial order of 100 was reduced to 25. All the buses have been delivered now and as always most buses are in Vijayawada.
After branding Corona buses Garuda, APSRTC's search for an affordable AC product continued. In October the corporation announced it is pursuing a rather bizarre project. Media reports suggested the buses will have two cabins - one with Air Conditioning and other with out. We thought this will never happen but the product was reality. One Super Luxury bus with two cabins has been running successfully from Vijayawada to Ongole. The corporation now plans to add 90 more buses with similar partition. We only hope these don't turn in to white elephants like earlier failed attempts at operating affordable AC buses with baby engines.
As the end of the year inched close, TSRTC received 25 new Multi Axle buses from Volvo and Scania. These were pressed in to service immediately to ferry passengers at Global Entrepreneurship Summit in late November at Hyderabad. While I mentioned TSRTC started replacing most of its buses this year it is interesting to which depots these buses were allotted. With the introduction of Vajra buses and increasing operation costs TSRTC has decided not to operate Deluxe buses anymore. Following this decision many services operated with Deluxe buses have now been replaced with Super Luxury buses. For those who don't know, Deluxe buses have cushioned seats where as Super Luxury buses have reclining seats and air suspension.
While smaller depots received their first Super Luxury buses, TSRTC pulled of a surprise by allotting the same buses to depots in Greater Hyderabad zone. It was worrying because Greater Hyderabad Zone was carved out from Hyderabad Zone to allow for better city bus operations. This move did not make any sense because depots all over the city were allotted routes which started far away from where they are located. It was clear from our conversations with the crew that none of them were ready to operate long distance services. Similarly depots close to Hyderabad that have always had only express buses were allotted Rajadhani AC buses. Both these moves were supported saying these depots do not have any other means to generate revenue. It might be worthwhile for the corporation to take a step back and rethink these decisions given each depot serves a particular purpose and not all depots can be compared similarly.
Not everything was sad this year. TSRTC Finally commissioned Farooqnagar city bus depot. The long rumored exclusive depot for AC buses too was commissioned this year by converting the already constructed Musheerabad-3 City bus depot in to Hyderabad-3 depot. All premium AC buses from Picket, Hyderabad-1 and Hyderabad-2 depots have now been shifted to Hyderabad-3 depot. TSRTC has finally stepped up its game and started operating more services starting from Hyderabad and beyond to cities in Andhra Pradesh. APSRTC started its own parcel service after its contract with ANL ended. It also started allowing passengers to pay via UPI and Cards to book tickets.
Both the corporations have started migrating to Fast tag for Automated toll payments. The age old depot computerization project has received an overhaul and both the corporations now have an all new centralized information system. This will help the corporations increase their efficiency. APSRTC now allows for current booking if tickets in reserved services even after the way bill is issued. This innovation has been made possible with next generation online Ticket issuing machines. TSRTC tested an electric bus In Hyderabad. It has also inducted 10 new Scania buses which run on bio diesel to reduce emissions.
I cannot end this with out mentioning the horrible accidents that lead to loss of life this year. One accident will forever be etched in my memories. On October 26, brakes of a metro express bus failed in Vijayawada killing 3. This was an accident waiting to happen. Even after repeated complaints by the driver, the bus was not fixed. The driver has since been suspended. The transport minister has made bizarre remarks pushing the blame on driver. Hounding crew seems to be the similar across both the corporations. In TSRTC, a conductor has been suspended for posting negative remarks about the current regime in Telangana on Facebook. The crew are now preparing for a long battle to get a pay revision committee constituted. It is sad that the promises made after the last strike have still not been fulfilled.
After Multi Axle buses became mainstream, very few operators from south India invested in premium AC buses. State transport undertakings were no different. Instead, they focused on Ashok Leyland's front engine AC buses. APSRTC surprised us all again by announcing it is looking to introduce a new affordable AC product wedged between Indra and Garuda Plus. It was supposed to be called "Krishnaveni". As details emerged we were not at all thrilled to know they were going to buy Corona buses.
Corona's sleeper buses have been successfully operated by KSRTC and some other private operators but their normal buses never saw customers. APSRTC launched the buses in April and surprise surprise.. they were branded Garuda. First addition to Garuda fleet in seven years. Corona buses soon developed problems and the initial order of 100 was reduced to 25. All the buses have been delivered now and as always most buses are in Vijayawada.
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| Corona Garuda.. Hit or Miss ? |
As the end of the year inched close, TSRTC received 25 new Multi Axle buses from Volvo and Scania. These were pressed in to service immediately to ferry passengers at Global Entrepreneurship Summit in late November at Hyderabad. While I mentioned TSRTC started replacing most of its buses this year it is interesting to which depots these buses were allotted. With the introduction of Vajra buses and increasing operation costs TSRTC has decided not to operate Deluxe buses anymore. Following this decision many services operated with Deluxe buses have now been replaced with Super Luxury buses. For those who don't know, Deluxe buses have cushioned seats where as Super Luxury buses have reclining seats and air suspension.
While smaller depots received their first Super Luxury buses, TSRTC pulled of a surprise by allotting the same buses to depots in Greater Hyderabad zone. It was worrying because Greater Hyderabad Zone was carved out from Hyderabad Zone to allow for better city bus operations. This move did not make any sense because depots all over the city were allotted routes which started far away from where they are located. It was clear from our conversations with the crew that none of them were ready to operate long distance services. Similarly depots close to Hyderabad that have always had only express buses were allotted Rajadhani AC buses. Both these moves were supported saying these depots do not have any other means to generate revenue. It might be worthwhile for the corporation to take a step back and rethink these decisions given each depot serves a particular purpose and not all depots can be compared similarly.
Not everything was sad this year. TSRTC Finally commissioned Farooqnagar city bus depot. The long rumored exclusive depot for AC buses too was commissioned this year by converting the already constructed Musheerabad-3 City bus depot in to Hyderabad-3 depot. All premium AC buses from Picket, Hyderabad-1 and Hyderabad-2 depots have now been shifted to Hyderabad-3 depot. TSRTC has finally stepped up its game and started operating more services starting from Hyderabad and beyond to cities in Andhra Pradesh. APSRTC started its own parcel service after its contract with ANL ended. It also started allowing passengers to pay via UPI and Cards to book tickets.
Both the corporations have started migrating to Fast tag for Automated toll payments. The age old depot computerization project has received an overhaul and both the corporations now have an all new centralized information system. This will help the corporations increase their efficiency. APSRTC now allows for current booking if tickets in reserved services even after the way bill is issued. This innovation has been made possible with next generation online Ticket issuing machines. TSRTC tested an electric bus In Hyderabad. It has also inducted 10 new Scania buses which run on bio diesel to reduce emissions.
I cannot end this with out mentioning the horrible accidents that lead to loss of life this year. One accident will forever be etched in my memories. On October 26, brakes of a metro express bus failed in Vijayawada killing 3. This was an accident waiting to happen. Even after repeated complaints by the driver, the bus was not fixed. The driver has since been suspended. The transport minister has made bizarre remarks pushing the blame on driver. Hounding crew seems to be the similar across both the corporations. In TSRTC, a conductor has been suspended for posting negative remarks about the current regime in Telangana on Facebook. The crew are now preparing for a long battle to get a pay revision committee constituted. It is sad that the promises made after the last strike have still not been fulfilled.
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| New buses.. New buses.. New buses Every Where !! |
Make no mistake, LOVEofZ stands in support with the Crew and the Management of both TSRTC and APSRTC. While we might have criticized the corporation for all the mistakes it seems to have done, we cannot thank them enough for making all the journeys happen.
We wish both the corporations a very happy new year and hope they continue to serve Telangana and Andhrapradesh better than ever.
బస్సు చక్రం .. ప్రగతికి చిహ్నం !
ప్రగతి రథం .. ప్రజల నేస్తం !!
