Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) and Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) on Monday said it would resume its inter bus service with a proper Covid-19 protocol in place.
The impasse over the running of RTC buses between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has finally ended with the meeting of RTC’s managing directors of both the states.
State-run bus services have remained suspended for more than six months.
The two MDs of state-owned corporations have signed an MoU agreeing to restore inter-state bus services between the two states.
Bus services remained suspended since March 24, since the complete lockdown was announced. Even after both the government’s eased lockdown regulations, bus services remained suspended as both the states had locked horns over the lucrative Vijayawada-Hyderabad route.
Hyderabad and Vijayawada route is one of the busiest routes in both the States. Telangana insisted that Andhra Pradesh must forego the profitable route operations.
As per the MoU signed on Monday by the MDs of TSRTC and APSRTC, TSRTC will run 826 buses across 1,61,258 km in AP, while APSRTC will operate 638 buses in Telangana across 1,60,999 km.
On the Vijayawada route and beyond, TSRTC will operate across 52,944 km with 273 buses in AP, while APSRTC will run 192 buses across 52,524 km in Telangana. Since bifurcation, APSRTC has been operating buses on 2.5 lakh route kilometers in Telangana while TSRTC used to run buses on 1.5 lakh route km in AP.
Telangana Transport minister Ajay Kumar told reporters that though there was some delay, the two sides have reached an agreement. He said that during the lockdown the two states realised that they have no formal agreement on bus operations.