MSRTC Volvo plan hits roadblock

It was supposed to be an important step towards expansion of a premium air-conditioned Volvo bus services for the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC).

However, more than two months after managing director Deepak Kapoor declared that the MSRTC will operate its AC Volvo services on the Mumbai-Pune-Bengaluru route “technical problems” have ensured that the services will not start.

“We have no problem starting one-way services, from Mumbai to Bengaluru via Pune. We have our own infrastructure in Mumbai and Pune so booking tickets, parking buses or providing any amenities to passengers can be done easily. However, the problem is with the return journey. If a passenger wants to make a journey from Bengaluru to Mumbai, via Pune then the necessary infrastructure or the supporting personnel required for ensuring that services operate smoothly, is not yet in place,” said a senior official from the MSRTC, who spoke with DNA on the condition of anonymity.

Sources in the MSRTC said that the delay could be attributed to resistance to the entry of MSRTC’s buses in Bengaluru by the ticketing agents who service private bus operators and the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation’s (KSRTC) buses.

A spokesperson for the MSRTC, however, claimed that there was no such resistance and services on the route will be started soon. “We hope to resolve all the pending issues and launch the MSRTC’s AC Volvo services on the route in the next week.”