APSRTC

Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (Telugu: ఆంధ్ర ప్రదేశ్ రాష్ట్ర రోడ్డు రవాణా సంస్థ) or APSRTC is the state owned road transport corporation in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is acknowledged as the single corporation having the largest fleet in the world.This has been certified by the Guinness World Records for being the largest bus operator in the world.

APSRTC was established in 1932 as a unit of Nizam's State Railways - Road Transport Division. The initial fleet consisted of 27 buses and has been expanded since to about 22,410 buses as of 30 November 2011.

The network connects cities, towns and villages in the state. Every town has a Bus Depot, which have administration to plan and oversee the operations. It operates in the all cities and towns of Andhra Pradesh state. It also operates to the neighbouring states as per the agreement reached with the respective state bus corporations of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry, Maharashtra, Orissa, Chattisgarh and Goa.

Initially the city buses very primarily called ordinary buses with green and dark green shades. They were supplemented with few double-decker buses in the same colour scheme.But in the year 2003 the corporation has decided to withdraw doubledeckers because of the operational difficulties. The colour scheme of the ordinary city buses has also been changed to white and orange gradually from the year 2002.

In the year 1994 a new kind of buses with dark blue and white colour scheme called the Metroliners were introduced in Hyderabad similar kind were introduced in Visakhapatnam under the name of CityLiners these were instant hit but the passengers had to pay higher for the services which had fewer stops.APSRTC then introduced Metro Express buses whose charges were in between that of the ordinary and the Metroliners. In the year 2002 when the National games were held in the city of Hyderabad the APSRTC complimented the Hyderabad's successful organisation by providing a new Yellow coloured buses for transporting the participants/organizers between the venues and places of stay. These buses were named Veera who was the mascot for the 2002 National Games. Veera is based on Ongole Bull. After 2002 National Games Veera buses are used for Hyderabad Local Transport.

Then came few AC buses called SeethalaHamsa's .But the city regions got a big boost with the coverage of Urban transportation under the JNNURM scheme in which the Union Government funds the purchase of buses to be used for improving urban transport. APSRTC has got more than 2000 buses sanctioned under this scheme.Out of these buses 1000 were sanctioned to Hyderabad city region in which 750 were Semi Low Floor(SLF, Ashok Leyland and TATA motors make), 200 Low Floor buses(TATA Marcopolo) and 50 AC Low Floor buses(8 Volvo and remaining Tata Marcopolo).From 2009 end the JNNURM Metro Expresses with a distinct blue and white colour scheme having LED electronic display boards are prominently seen on the roads of twin cities and Visakhapatnam. It has also introduced CNG buses in some cities viz. Vijayawada and will soon introduce in other major cities and towns.Some CNG buses have started plying in Hyderabad in 2011.

Different type of intercity, district, and village services are:PalleveluguCan be considered the new avtar of the old Red Bus. The colour scheme is predominantly Dark Green over White.Usually connects the villages to nearby towns.ExpressSimilar to the Express service before but in new White and Sky Blue Stripes.DeluxePreviously known Luxury buses have been named as Deluxe. Can be seen in different colour patterns but mostly in Purple and white combination.Super LuxuryMost popular non-AC service between towns and cities and vice versa. Usually in a single predominant colour with black windows. The color is usually Pink,light Green,Blue,Orange.MeghdootAC & Non-AC coaches in white and red colour scheme.GarudaWhen the Swedish Auto major Volvo entered the South Indian Market with its B7R (Volvo 9400) buses APSRTC was among the few operators who have brought the Volvo B7R buses.They have named the bus Services as Garuda. These buses are very fast,comfortable and safe. People have patronized these services even at a higher ticket costs. APSRTC is operating Garudas between major cities in the state and to cities in the neighbouring states like Bangalore, Mumbai. Now the enhanced version B9R, Multiaxle with more seating capacity is to come with advanced features. Along with Volvo, APSRTC also operates with Cerita,ISUZU and Marcopolo coaches in specific zones.Garuda Plus.

APSRTC introduced the multiaxle Mercedes-Benz buses in 2011 called the Garuda Plus, having blue and beige livery.SapthagiriThese buses in Blue and White colours are seen in the holy towns of Tirupathi and Tirumala for the benefit of piligrims visiting the Lord Venkateshwara Swami temple in Tirumala. Majority of buses ply between Tirupathi and Tirumala and are Ghat eligible. Some of these buses connect Tirumala directly with Chennai, Bangalore and Chittoor.Indra APSRTC has introduced 18 air-conditioned Leyland vehicles christened ‘Indra' for people who wish to travel air-conditioned buses at affordable fares. The plan is to purchase a total of 100 buses in coming time. To begin with, these buses would be run on Hyderabad-Vijayawada, Hyderabad-Karimnagar,Hyderabad-Warangal, Hyderabad-Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad-Mahabubnagar, Hyderabad-Kadapa and other routes.

VennelaIn early 2012 APSRTC has introduced AC sleeper services named Vennela. These are 2 tier 24 berth Isuzu make buses connecting distant cities where passenger can travel with sleeping comfort.

Popular services in the past OrdinaryThe all ubiquitous Red bus or affectionately called the Erra bus, Erra for Red in Telugu connects the villages to the near towns.Usually has 52 seats with 3+2 seating arrangement. The red bus has been a part of life of the rural people. The bus connectivity of a village is considered an indication of village progress. Erra bus has the lowest fare among all the types of services. From 2006–07 Red color Ordinary bus has been slowly replaced with other color schemes leading to the demise of the people's favourite bus.ExpressUsually operated as a service between the towns and also for connecting the towns with the cities. Initially the colour scheme was Creamish Yellow and Brown, then changed to white and Greyish Blue and now White and Sky Blue.These buses have a better 3+2 seating arrangement the seats supporting head.Semi LuxuryInitially in the attractive Light Green and Yellow horizontal long stripes over White colour scheme had reasonably 2+2 seats.Usually operated on longer routes than Expresses. After 1995 there have been several changes to the color schemes and the body structures and were called Luxury buses.From 2007 onwards they are called Deluxes.

Super DeluxeWas the top category bus in the APSRTC service range before 1994. It was in popular Yellow, Red, Black horizontal stripes with Brown Border over White Colour.Had 2+2 pushback leather kind of seats. Were considered premium service, had advanced reservations for travel. Each town depot usually had one or two services which were usually connecting Hyderabad.T he color scheme was changed to Blue and White for a couple of years before the Super Deluxes were removed from services.HiTechAfter the Super Deluxe, the Hitechs formed the Premium service. From 1995 there have been Hitechs of different shapes and colours. Hitechs of late did not have a particular colour and were in different colours.

They are eventually named Super Luxury from 2007.Other BusesAPSRTC did had a few AC services. Few buses were modified to have Air Conditioning to connect major cities. In the year 1994 a dedicated AC climatizer buses under the name Vihamgam were introduced, they were few and connected the major cities in the State apart from Bangalore. Another service called Mayuri was a sleeper service operated on few routes most notably between Hyderabad and Shiridi. There were few other buses like the predominantly sky blue colour ordinary called Gramini for connecting small villages and there is a special kind of ordinary for carrying vegetables to the nearby Rythu Bazars. But these services were short lived.