Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu inaugurates Amaravati service at the PNBS in Vijayawada on Friday
Turning a new leaf in the history of APSRTC, a fleet of new premium air conditioned buses under the brand name – ‘Amaravati’ after the name of Andhra Pradesh new capital – hit the road on Friday, the first day of 2016.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu launched the new service amid much fanfare at Pandit Nehru Bus Station, here. The gleaming new buses with electronic display of destination flashing on the windshields were flagged off from platform number 1-8 by him. APSRTC MD N Sambasiva Rao and others were present.
Amaravati bus service is in addition to the existing Garuda, Garuda plus, Vennela, Indra, Super Luxury, Deluxe and Express Services to provide yet another option for people to travel in comfort and style.
APSRTC is initially deploying 45 ‘Amaravati’ buses on various long routes, particularly between Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Chennai, Tirupati, Kadapa and Nellore. Of this, 45 buses, 15 vehicles are Scania and remaining 30 vehicles are latest model of Volvo. Out of the total buses being introduced, 17 vehicles are meant for augmentation while the remaining 28 are towards replacement. The cost of each Scania and Volvo bus is Rs 97.43 lakh and the total cost of the fleet of 45 buses was Rs 43.84 crore. All the 45 buses are manufactured in Sweden.
Tariff of the new Amaravati bus service will be same as that of the Garuda Plus services of APSRTC.
A view of the newly-acquired buses inducted into the fleet of the APSRTC at the Pandit Nehru Bus Station in Vijayawada on Friday
News Source : The New Indian Express