Premium Bus Service Begins In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) has commenced operation of a premium bus service on Tuesday.

The service was inaugurated by State Commerce and Transport minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi.

Majhi said the bus service will meet demands of passengers in the premium segment.

Most of the states already have Volvo, Scania and other modern and comfortable buses. The state-run OSRTC will initially acquire 12 buses on lease for the purpose, said the minister.

The first two buses will connect Puri with Kolkata through Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. With improvements of roads and four-lane highways, travel time by buses have now considerably decreased and this is being leveraged around the country to operate Volvo-type of buses.

The service will be made commercially operational from first of November and advance tickets can be booked online from Tuesday. This will meet demands for improving bus service and will be helpful for tourists visiting Puri, the minister said.

OSRTC will provide clean blankets and water bottle free of cost and is working on providing roadside amenities for mid-way stops with eateries and clean toilets. The service will be extended to Hyderabad, Vizag and attempts will be made to gradually cover all the district headquarters depending on the service becoming commercially viable.

The state government is working on to revive OSRTC and improve its functioning, Majhi said.