VIJAYAWADA: The chief executives of AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) and Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) have signed an agreement to increase the number of inter-state bus services being operated in the two states.
APSRTC managing director Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao and his KSRTC counterpart V. Anbukumar signed the agreement at the RTC House in Vijayawada on Thursday.
As a result, AP will operate to Karnataka 327 more buses to over an additional 69,284 km, while Karnataka will introduce 496 extra buses with their operation increasing by 69,372 km in Andhra Pradesh. New routes are going to be introduced and existing ones will be strengthened in view of the increased demand from the public of the two states owing to rapid industrial growth in the border districts of both AP and Karnataka.
Dwaraka Tirumala Rao pointed out that these proposals have been worked out for the first time after the state’s bifurcation. With the MoU coming into effect, 1,322 buses of APSRTC will operate along 2,34,762 km per day in Karnataka versus 1,489 buses of KSRTC covering 2,26,044 km in Andhra Pradesh.
In this connection, KSRTC MD Anbukumar visited RTC House, Vijayawada, on Thursday accompanied by KSRTC director (P&V) Prasanth Kumar Mishra, CTM (Operations) D. Anthony George, and CTM (Commercial) S. Rajesh.
The agreement reached between the two state transport undertakings will be submitted to the respective governments for consideration and formal approval. The increase in services will be fully operational within three months.
