E-Paper
MSRTC faces shortage of 5,200 buses post Covid
The rural hinterlands of Maharashtra have been severely impacted by a lack of bus service due to a reduction in the number of buses in the state bus transport fleet
PUNE
The Maharashtra State Road Transportation Corporation (MSRTC) is facing a bus shortage of 5,200, with up to 2,000 buses being phased out due to being more than 12 years old. The state transport service currently requires 19,000 buses for statewide operations, but only 14,800 are operating on various routes across Maharashtra.
According to MSRTC officials, 2,000 buses have been phased out post-Covid pandemic from different routes as they had aged and reached the threshold of being pressed out of service.
The buses in question were immediately scrapped by the transportation agency. The rural hinterlands of Maharashtra have been severely impacted by a lack of bus service due to a reduction in the number of buses in the state bus transport fleet.
Before the pandemic, as many as 240 crore passengers used the bus service annually, however, that number has dropped to nearly half for the current year. Before the Covid-related restrictions, daily earnings ranged between ₹ 22-24 crore, which is currently pegged at ₹13-14 crore.
The MSRTC authorities are facing a major challenge in paying its employees because income is insufficient to cover the transport body’s expenses.
According to MSRTC officials, before Covid-19 took effect, 15,764 buses were operating on state roads in 2019-2020, while the number of buses dropped to 6,688 during the lockdown period (2021-2022).
MSRTC buses did not run for six months after the authorities went on an indefinite strike in October 2021.
The total number of passengers travelling and the income generated have both dropped significantly as a result of all Covid-19 restrictions and strikes.
“The Covid-19 restrictions caused a reduction in the total number of passengers using the MSRTC bus service but that trend has reversed with the lifting of restrictions and return to normalcy which has seen an increase in the number of passengers. The MSRTC has also begun the process of procuring new buses in order to upgrade its fleet. It is our goal to provide our passengers with high-quality bus service,” said Shekhar Channe, MSRTC’s vice president and Managing Director (MD).
He further added that after new buses are added to the existing fleet, there will be enough buses on all routes in the future.
