HYDERABAD: After a long hiatus, the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh state transport corporations have decided to resume inter state bus services. As per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two, TSRTC will operate across 1,61,258 km in AP with 826 buses and APSRTC will operate across 1,60,999 km with 638 buses in Telangana.

RTC Guntur regional manager G Nagendra Prasad said, “After the agreement, services from Krishna have been reduced to 166, which will cover 74,110 km in Telangana. Over the last couple of days, 100 buses were operated to Hyderabad from Vijayawada with 80 per cent occupancy. As per the agreement, the TSRTC will ply 273 buses on Vijayawada-Hyderabad route and the APSRTC 192.”

According to the reports, the occupancy of inter-state RTC buses between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh has crossed fifty per cent. Telangana RTC officials have decided to increase the number of buses as per the demand of the passengers. The buses between the two states suspended since the coronavirus induced lockdown. Even after centre easing the lockdown rules, the Telangana government has decided to run the buses only after an agreement. Before Coronavirus induced lockdown, about 750 buses used to ply daily from Telangana to various parts of Andhra Pradesh. TSRTC is currently operating only 350 buses.

In the last week of March following the imposition of COVID-19 lockdown to control the spread of coronavirus, the inter-state bus services were suspended. With the relaxation of lockdown norms in May, both states resumed the bus services within their states but the inter-state services remained suspended. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh became separate states on 2nd June 2014, after the bifurcation, the inter-state passenger bus services were being operated on the basis of ad hoc provisions under Clause 72(1) of the Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation Act 2014.