UPSRTC to boost interstate bus service; focuses on passenger safety, comfort
UPSRTC will operate 13,000 buses for Mahakumbh in Prayagraj in 2025, ensuring safety and comfort with new measures and additional staffing.
The UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) will be operating approximately 13,000 buses across the state, intercity and interstate, with almost 7,500 buses from the fleet specifically on Mahakumbh duty in Prayagraj in 2025. With 2,335 interstate buses plying from eight cities, the UPSRTC may extend it by almost 300. Not only this, the UPSRTC has put in place several measures for the safety, comfort and convenience of passengers travelling to Prayagraj during this time.
The UPSRTC’s buses run on 728 routes in around 280 cities of Delhi, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and even in Nepal. The UPSRTC is currently operating 2,335 buses on all of these routes combined, “But we can extend the buses to our maximum limit based on requirement, which is 2,654 buses,” said managing director, UPSRTC, Masoom Ali Sarwar. The highest number of 1,254 interstate buses are plying to and from Delhi followed by Uttarakhand with 730, and Haryana with 182. They can be increased to 1356, 905, and 211 buses respectively.
The 7,500 buses on Mahakumbh duty will be allocated for different cities, with the highest number of buses, 600, deployed for Ghazipur. The state capital has been allotted 400 buses. “Eight temporary bus stations have been set up in the fair area for the convenience of the passengers, and temporary workshops are also being set up near all these bus stations,” transport minister Dayashankar Singh said.
Moreover, 350 shuttle buses, and 200 electric buses, which will also be operating as shuttles, will be deployed in Prayagraj for devotees for free commuting to bathing spots. All shuttles will also have the Mahakumbh logo pasted on the vehicles for easy identification.
The transport minister had, in a recent event, officially launched the panic button system across 5,000 of the UPSRTC buses which connect directly to 112 UP Police Emergency. They are also meant for safety of women travellers during Mahakumbh.
Also, Quick Response Teams with interceptor vehicles will be deployed in Prayagraj, which will be deployed on 7 routes to deal with emergency situations on the bus routes.
The MD has also written to private companies to make arrangements for basic passenger facilities for the permanent bus stops that are being set up for the period. “We are proposing that these companies use their CSR (corporate social responsibility) funds to set up water ATMs, themed entrance gates, enquiry displays, passenger benches, microphones, blankets, dustbins, signages and other such arrangements.”
The UPSRTC is mass recruiting for 7,188 positions of drivers and 15,000 conductors in contractual positions ahead of the Mahakumbh. Ashish Singh, general manager (technical) at UPSRTC headquarters said that the applicants have to meet certain criteria and provide valid documents and licences to be considered for the role.
“Additional enforcement officers will be stationed at toll plazas to monitor vehicles for over speeding, unregistered operations, and to verify permits and fitness certificates, thereby ensuring accident-free travel for all commuters during this time,” said transport commissioner Chandrabhushan Singh.
