BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC), a state-owned transport agency, has replaced 86 old buses with new modern buses in 46 existing routes of the state this year. Objective of this move is to provide better comfort and safety to the passengers.
The corporation functioning under the state transport and commerce department provides passenger transport in Odisha. It has around 512 buses to run in 264 routes across the state.
OSRTC sources said an old bus will be replaced with a new one after it covers 10 lakh kilometres or around 10 years of service. “Every year we induct new buses against the old ones keeping the age and other conditions of the buses in mind. We are planning to add new buses in the coming financial year (2022-23) too,” said OSRTC general manager (admin) Braja Gopal Acharya.
He said the state transport authority (STA) gives permission to the OSRTC for the induction of the new buses. The buses are included in the fleet soon after getting permission from the authority. “For maintenance and repairing work, we have depots in different parts of the state. There are 23 units across the state,” he added.
There are three categories of buses running in the 46 existing routes. These are Express, Deluxe and AC Deluxe. Some of these buses also connect Odisha cities/towns with cities of neighbouring states including Jagdalpur, Bhadrachalam, Visakhapatnam, VizianagaramRanchi and Viajaywada.
Out of the 86 new buses, 12 buses are running from Berhampur, 11 from Bhubaneswar and 10 from Cuttack. These buses have comfortable seats, emergency alarm, CCTV cameras, vehicle tracking system, fire fighting system, public address system and other facilities.
During the financial year 2021-22, the corporation had decided to induct 180 new buses. “After induction of 86 buses, the remaining 94 new buses will be introduced in the coming financial year,” said the official sources.
The corporation functioning under the state transport and commerce department provides passenger transport in Odisha. It has around 512 buses to run in 264 routes across the state.
OSRTC sources said an old bus will be replaced with a new one after it covers 10 lakh kilometres or around 10 years of service. “Every year we induct new buses against the old ones keeping the age and other conditions of the buses in mind. We are planning to add new buses in the coming financial year (2022-23) too,” said OSRTC general manager (admin) Braja Gopal Acharya.
He said the state transport authority (STA) gives permission to the OSRTC for the induction of the new buses. The buses are included in the fleet soon after getting permission from the authority. “For maintenance and repairing work, we have depots in different parts of the state. There are 23 units across the state,” he added.
There are three categories of buses running in the 46 existing routes. These are Express, Deluxe and AC Deluxe. Some of these buses also connect Odisha cities/towns with cities of neighbouring states including Jagdalpur, Bhadrachalam, Visakhapatnam, VizianagaramRanchi and Viajaywada.
Out of the 86 new buses, 12 buses are running from Berhampur, 11 from Bhubaneswar and 10 from Cuttack. These buses have comfortable seats, emergency alarm, CCTV cameras, vehicle tracking system, fire fighting system, public address system and other facilities.
During the financial year 2021-22, the corporation had decided to induct 180 new buses. “After induction of 86 buses, the remaining 94 new buses will be introduced in the coming financial year,” said the official sources.