PUNE In a major relief for passengers, private bus operators began operations from inside the ST stands across 13 depots in the Pune division on Wednesday.
As the Maharashtra State Transport Corporation (MSRTC) workers’ strike continued, the state government allowed private tourist buses, school and company buses to transport passengers, due to which several private buses parked inside the Swargate, Wakdewadi, and Vallabhanagar ST stands.
“We are supporting the ongoing protest of the MSRTC workers and there is no competition. Nor are we disrespecting them. Only for the sake of passengers and to make travel arrangements as appealed for by the state government we have started the bus service from ST stands today. The fares of the private buses are as per given by the fare chart of the state transport department and we are getting a good response,” said Baba Shinde, president, Maharashtra Transport Vehicle Owners and Drivers Association.
Early on Wednesday morning there was rush of passengers at the Swargate and Wakdewadi ST stands to board buses on various routes. Private tourist bus operators were sending buses only on routes within 250 to 300km from Pune, which includes Kolhapur, Satara, Sangali, Solapur, Aurangabad, Ahmednagar and Beed. Initially, there were some arguments between passengers and bus operators over ticket fares, as the fares were a bit higher than the regular MSRTC ticket fares.
“The ticket fares are as per the chart given by the transport department, but it doesn’t include the subsidies and benefits for senior citizens and other categories. And passengers were demanding such subsidies from us, but it is not possible to give a half-ticket rate to anyone,” added Shinde.
{{/usCountry}}“The ticket fares are as per the chart given by the transport department, but it doesn’t include the subsidies and benefits for senior citizens and other categories. And passengers were demanding such subsidies from us, but it is not possible to give a half-ticket rate to anyone,” added Shinde.
{{/usCountry}}Kiran Pisal, a passenger travelling to Mumbai said, “For the last two days I was planning to go to Mumbai for personal work, but as there were no buses operational, I returned cancelling the journey. I am travelling by private bus and ticket fares are fine as not too high.”
There was police bandobast and also RTO officials deployed at all ST stands to monitor the smooth operations of the private tourist buses.