Hyderabad

The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) will press into service as many as 6,500 special buses to cater to the rush during the Sankranti holiday season. The special services will operate from January 9-19.

According to TGSRTC Executive Director (Operations) P.V. Munishekhar, the corporation is expecting a heavy inflow of passengers, running into several lakh each day. Capacity planning, he said, has been carried out in a phased manner. The primary focus will be on transporting passengers to their respective destinations.

Unlike Dasara, which largely sees passenger movement within Telangana, Sankranti is expected to witness significant outbound travel to destinations in Andhra Pradesh, as the festival is celebrated there on a larger scale.

As many as 1,500 buses have been earmarked for online advance reservations. Nearly 70% of seats have already been booked, with the remaining expected to be filled within two days of Sankranti, Mr. Munishekhar said.

Most of the bookings have been made for destinations such as Visakhapatnam, Amalapuram, Ongole and Vijayawada. "January 10 being a second Saturday, travellers are expected to plan their journeys to make the most of the long weekend. January 9 and January 10 will be crucial, as they are expected to witness large-scale passenger movement," he said.

Special teams

To ensure smooth operations, TGSRTC will deploy special teams to monitor passenger flow and bus movement at major boarding points, including L B Nagar, Jubilee Bus Station, Uppal, Aramghar and Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS). Additional teams will be stationed at KPHB and MGBS to oversee passenger traffic during the evening hours.

Passenger traffic is expected to peak on January 13, as January 14 marks Bhogi, he said.

Return travel is likely to see a surge on January 18 and January 19, for which buses have been arranged in advance. Sources said that city bus services may be temporarily affected, as around 1,500 buses are expected to be diverted from the city fleet to meet demand for destinations within Telangana, including Warangal, Karimnagar and Khammam.

TGSRTC to deploy 6,500 special buses during Sankranti