Southern States - Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad   

RTC introduces Garuda buses

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD May 10. A plush new air-conditioned Volvo bus, named by the APSRTC `Garuda', on the 718 km-long, Hyderabad-Mumbai route was flagged off by thespian, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, at the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station here on Saturday, in the presence of the Maharajgunj MLA, Premsingh Rathod.

The 10 new 45-seater Volvo coaches were introduced by the corporation at a cost of Rs. 50 lakhs each. The first route chosen for Garuda operations was the Tirupati-Bangalore-Tirupati and the Mumbai route is the second. While the Volvo coaches introduced by the RTC were generally named, `Garuda', those on the Mumbai route were named `Menaka'.

Speaking to presspersons earlier, the Executive Director, APSRTC, Ch. Balakrishna, said with a 265 horsepower engine, the Volvo coach has a cruising speed of 110 km per hour. The journey to Mumbai will be covered in 13 and half hours contrary to the 17-hour journey by train. The daily service leaves Hyderabad at 5 p.m. and reach Mumbai at 6.30 a.m. the next day.

He said travel by RTC on the Mumbai route would cost Rs. 700 including reservation charges, which was less than AC-III train travel by over Rs. 100. The air-conditioned coach had a climatiser for temperature control and the superior air suspension would ensure a very comfortable ride. While the chassis was imported from Sweden, the body had been built in Bangalore, he said.

Mr. Balakrishna said introduction of Garuda buses was one of the several new services that the corporation was contemplating to introduce, to counter competition from private operators.

Among others present on the occasion were the Executive Director, Operations, Narsing Rao, the Board Secretary, A. Nageswara Rao, the Regional Managers, P. Narayanaswamy (Ranga Reddy) and C. Panduranga Murthy (Hyderabad).

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• RTC introduces Garuda buses
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