TSRTC will launch mini-bus service 'Vajra' shortly

The air-conditioned mini-bus service of the State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC), ‘Vajra’, will be launched shortly.

Touted as its effort to make air-conditioned travelling affordable to low and middle income families, the service will have 150 new buses, including 110 mini-buses, intended for long distance travel across the State, being operated at a frequency of one service every 20 minutes from Hyderabad and elsewhere in the State.

The 110 mini buses, which include 50 non-AC and 60 AC buses, are currently parked in a yard adjacent to the Musheerabad- III depot and will be launched once the TSRTC gets the appointment of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao for the same.

“We are expecting the Chief Minister’s appointment next week. Once the date is finalised, we will launch the buses from Parade Grounds,” a senior TSRTC official said.It was in October last that TSRTC chairman S Satyanaraya and



Transport Minister P Mahender Reddy announced the initiative, which will have several other services, including Rajadhani, Super Luxury and Express buses being launched along with the ‘Vajra’ buses.

The 21-seater T-32 BS-IV mini-buses, whose bodies were built by the Mumbai-based MG Group, are a combination of various state-of-the-art facilities, including GPS, Closed Circuit Television Cameras (CCTV), LCD television, high speed Wi-Fi and mobile charging points for every seat, the official said.

With the buses being equipped with GPS facilities, commuters can get the live running status of the services.“Passengers have to book the tickets directly through a dedicated mobile app, which will be the first such initiative in the country. There won’t be any ground bookings facility,” the official said.

The corporation initially is planning to operate 53 buses from the city to Nizamabad and Warangal.