Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation

महाराष्ट्र राज्य मार्ग परिवहन महामंडळ Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation
Official logo of MSRTC
Info
Owner	Government of Maharashtra
Locale	Maharashtra
Transit type	Intercity bus service within State of Maharashtra and selected cities neighboring states Local bus service in selected cities
Daily ridership	7 Million(70 lakh)[1]
Chief executive	Sudhakar Paricharak (Chairman), Omprakash Gupta, Vice-Chairman & Managing Director
Headquarters	Mumbai Central, Mumbai
Website	http://www.msrtc.gov.in online booking
Operation
Began operation	1948 as Bombay State Road Transport Corporation (BSRTC) 1950 as Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation
Operator(s)	MSRTC
Number of vehicles	16000[2]

A Red MSRTC Bus manoeuvring in the Sahyadri. It is the cheapest albeit an uncomfortable mode of transport in the state.

MSRTC's Green top Asiad bus on Expressway. The board in the driver cabin reads "Swargate to Borivali" in Marathi.

MSRTC VOLVO coach between Mumbai and Pune

Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) (Marathi: महाराष्ट्र राज्य मार्ग परिवहन महामंडळ), also referred to as MSRTC, or simply ST, is the state run bus service of Maharashtra, India with 16,000 buses which ferry 7 million (70 lakh) passengers daily on 17,000 routes.^[2] It is the third largest bus service provider in India (after APSRTC and TNSTC) and serves routes to towns and cities within Maharashtra and adjoining states. Apart from locations within the state of Maharashtra, the MSRTC service also covers destinations such as Ahmedabad and Surat (in Gujarat), Bangalore (in Karnataka), Goa and Indore (in Madhya Pradesh). It is one of the largest fleet owners in India. It also offers a facility for online booking of tickets for all 17000 routes.^[3]

History

Early bus services in Maharashtra (then part of the states of Bombay, Madhya Pradesh and Hyderabad) were started in the early 1920s largely due to efforts of local entrepreneurs. With no regulatory laws governing public transportation services these services run in ad hoc manner. The Motor Vehicle Act of 1939 brought in amongst many other things, regulation of fares, standard routes and rules for governance and monitoring of public tranporation providers. As a result of the act individual operators were asked to form a union on defined routes in a particular area. Bus schedules were set in, pick-up points, conductors, and fixed ticket prices were mandated.

Still passenger woes continued and then in 1948 Bombay State Government, started its own state sponsored road transport service called State Transport of Bombay. The first blue and silver-topped bus took off from Pune to Ahmednagar in 1948. In mean time, in 1950 the central government under the initiative of Morarji Desai the then home minister passed the Road Transport Corporation Act. This act delegated powers to states to form their individual road transport corporations, the central government would contribute up to a third of the establishment of such services. The Bombay State Road Transport Corporation (BSRTC) was formed following this, later on whose name was changed to Maharastra State Road Transport Corporation after the re-organization of the states.

Structure

The main terminal is located opposite Mumbai Central Railway Station. They are popular modes of transport for locals and tourists alike. Public service to most cities is available at 30 minute intervals, and private bus service is also available at an additional cost, with prior booking. One of their most lucrative routes is the Mumbai to Pune route, via the expressway, on which buses depart on 10-15 minute intervals.

Bus services

MSRTC runs bus services starting from the basic bus service for the masses to the Air conditioned bus service meeting the world class standards. The types of services run by MSRTC are:

Ordinary: A basic bus service provided by MSRTC. The buses are in red livery. The service is meant to connect entire Maharashtra together. This includes smallest of towns irrespective of the road or revenue conditions. The main motto of this service is not profit making but the service of people from masses. The buses are fairly comfortable, extremely economical and offer various concessional services for Senior Citizens, Students, War widows, Freedom fighters and so on. This for sure one trend setting example of public service with a class and has been serving Maharashtra for ages. Major fleet of MSRTC consists of these buses.

Parivartan: Parivartan in Marathi means 'change'. This is the changed face of the ordinary red bus service. A successful attempt by MSRTC to offer comfortable service to masses. The buses consist of a 2x2 seating arrangement and offer better comfort. These are slowly replacing the ordinary buses from the fleet and are also responsible for 'change' (Parivartan in urban people's mindsets about the ordinary ST bus services. The fare structure fo Parivartan buses is same as that of the ordinary buses and all the concessions can also be availed.

Asiad: The first ever comfortable bus service in the country meant to ferry the sports persons of the Asiad games which took place in 1982 is now become in an inevitable part of Maharashtra's intercity transport. The Asiad is a Non Air-Conditioned, Semi-Luxury bus service with 2x2 seating arrangement. The Asiad service was recognized by Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister during 1982 as this was the first Government built, owned and operated bus service offering world class comfort at that time. Later on MSRTC used these beautiful white and green buses with a blue band on their lucrative Dadar-Pune sector and got an overwhelming response from the commuters. MSRTC decided to keep the service in operation on this route and started producing more Asaid buses at their workshops. Slowly the Asiad services were introduced on other sectors. Today Asiad buses run between all the cities in Maharashtra. The Asiad livery was modified in 2010 with a shiny white paint and a purple colour. A few popular Asiad bus routes in the state are: Dadar - Pune, Nasik - Pune, Sangli-Pune, Aurangabad - Pune, Thane - Pune, Satara - Mumbai, Nasik - Mumbai, Kolhapur - Pune, etc. The buses on these route ply with an interval of 15 minutes to 1 hour on a daily basis.

Shivneri: Yet another example of the corporation in keeping with the time. Shivneri is an Air-conditioned bus service of MSRTC between important cities. Most of the services are operated by the world class Volvo - B7R buses in a light blue livery. The services were started on Dadar - Pune sctor and now MSRTC operates Shivneri bus services on many select routes. Currently MSRTC operates Shivneri buses on following routes in a descending order of frequency & number of services: 1. Dadar (Mumbai) - Pune (Pune Station) 2. Borivali (Mumbai) - Pune (Swargate) 3. Aurangabad - Pune (Shivajinagar) 4. Thane - Pune (Swargate) 5. Sangli - Pune 6. Nashik - Pune (Shivajinagar) 7. Kolhapur - Pune (Swargate) 8. Mumbai (Borivali) - Shirdi 9. Mumbai (Mumbai Central) - Panjim (Goa) 10. Mumbai (Mumbai Central) - Hyderabad 11. Pune (Swargate) - Bangalore 12. Jalgaon - Pune (Shivajinagar) 13. Nanded - Pune (Shivajinagar) Plans for starting long haul routes like Mumbai - Bangalore, Nagpur - Pune, Nagpur - Aurangabad, etc. are in process.

Sheetal: The latest entrant into the long list of bus types operated by MSRTC. These are airconditioned semi-luxury buses with 2x2 seating arrangement. The pricing is slightly higher than the Asiad buses, but significantly lower than the Shivneri buses. As of 2010, these buses have been introduced only on the Dadar - Pune Station route, though there are plans to introduce them on other popular routes like Pune - Nasik, Pune - Aurangabad, etc.

MSRTC City-Bus: An intracity & semi-urban service arm MSRTC providing services that cater to the transportation needs of mid size and smaller towns which do not have their own transportation services.

MSRTC Daily conducted tours: MSRTC operate daily conducted tours by Asiad buses to the tourist destinations around Aurangabad like Ellora, Ajanta and Daulatabad wherein they also take a note of the tourist destinations in the city. Tour 1: Aurangabad CBS to Ajanta Caves, Bibi-Ka-Muqbara, Pan-Chakki and back to Aurangabad CBS Tour 2: Aurangabad CBS to Ellora Caves, Daulatabad Fort, Bibi-Ka-Muqbara, Pan-Chakki and back to Aurangabad CBS

Yatra (Festivity services): A seasonal service targeted at travellers visiting various festivities of Maharastra.

Parcel Courier service: MSRTC buses also provide the use of their buses for shipping cargo or courier services.

Tourism packages: Along with normal bus services MSRTC provides package tours whereby you can buy a single ticket to travel a selective group of tourist places in Maharastra. The groups are mostly clubbed together based on the district they belong to.

Bus fleet

MSRTC is one of the largest fleet owners in India, operating a fleet of approximately 16000 buses^[4] that ferry 7 million(70 lakh) passengers daily on 17,000 routes.^[2] The Ordinary, Parivartan, Asiad and City Buses are built at MSRTC's in-house workshops at Pune, Aurangabad, and Nagpur on Ashok Leyland and TATA chassis. These workshops produce as high as 2000 buses per annum on an average! The real secret of the buses built at MSRTC workshops lies in their safe and light-weight body structures with low on maintenance and cost effective design. This along with a regular and exhaustive periodic maintainece of MSRTC has resulted in huge profits for the corporation and comfort and safety to the passengers. The corporation has 9 Tyre Retreading Plants along with 32 Divisional Workshops and has evolved as one of the best State Transport service providers to the nation.

Trivia

• Mumbai - Bangalore is the longest running bus covering approximately 978 km
• Mount Abu, Raipur, and Bangalore are the most Northern, Eastern, and Southern ends respectively reached by MSRTC bus service
• Has the largest bus fleet in the world after London metro bus service
• Before changing to trademark red color in 1967 the color of the buses was mostly blue and yellow

Bus Depots

Mumbai Division

• Mumbai, Parel, Kurla Nehru Nagar, Panvel, Uran.

Thane Division

• Thane-1,Thane-2, Murbad, Shahapur, Wada, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Vitthalwadi

Palghar Division

• Palghar, Vasai, Nalasopara, Arnala, Saphale, Boisar, Jawhar, Dahanu

Raigad Division

• Pen, Alibaug, Karjat, Roha, Murud-Janjira, Mahad, Shrivardhan, Mhasla, Mangaon

PALI, Khed

Ratnagiri Division

• Ratnagiri, Mandangad, Dapoli, Khed, Chiplun, Guhagar, Lanja, Rajapur, Devrukh, Sangameshwar, Sakharpa

Sindhudurg Division

• Kankavli, Kudal, Vijaydurg, Vaibhavwadi, Devgad, Malvan, Savantwadi, Vengurla

Pune Division

• Swargate, Shivajinagar, Narayangaon, Rajgurunagar, Shirur, Talegaon, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Daund, Saswad, Bhor, Baramati, Indapur

Aurangabad Division

• Aurangabad-1, Aurangabad-2, Soygaon, Sillod, Kannad, Vaijapur, Gangapur, Paithan

Nagpur Division

Nagpur-1, Nagpur-2, Umred, Katol, Saoner, Ramtek

Nashik Division

• Nashik 1, Nashik 2 Satana, Malegaon, Kalwan, Nandgaon, Peth, Manmad, Pimpalgaon, Lasalgaon, Panchvati, Yeola, Sinnar, Igatpuri, Deola, Panchavati

Satara Division

• Satara, Pargaon-Khandala, Mahabaleshwar, Wai, Phaltan, Medha, Dahiwadi, Koregaon, Waduj, Patan, Karad

Kolhapur Division

• Kolhapur, Sambhajinagar, Malkapur, Kurundvad, Ichalkaranji, Kagal, Gaganbawada, Radhanagari, Gargoti, Gadhinglaj, Ajra, Chandgad, Murgud.

Ahmednagar Division

• Ahmednagar, Tarakpur, Kopargaon, Akole, Sangamner, Shrirampur, Nevasa, Shevgaon, Pathardi, Parner, Shrigonda, Jamkhed

Dhule Division

• Dhule, Nandurbar, Shahada, Akkalkuwa, Shirpur, Dondaicha, Sindkheda, Navapur, Sakri

Jalgaon Division

• Jalgaon, Chopda, Yawal, Raver, Muktainagar, Bhusawal, Amalner, Erandol, Jamner, Pachora, Chalisgaon

Solapur Division

• Solapur, Karmala, Barshi, Kurduvadi, Akluj, Pandharpur, Sangola, Mangalwedha, Akkalkot, Mahud(b.k)

Sangli Division

• Sangli, Atpadi, Vita, Jat, Kavathe Mahakal, Tasgaon, Islampur, Shirala, Miraj

Jalna Division

• Jalna, Jafrabad, Ambad, Partur

Parbhani Division

• Parbhani, Hingoli, Kalamnuri, Wasmat, Jintur, Pathari, Gangakhed

Beed Division

• Beed, Gevrai, Mazalgaon, Ashti, Patoda, Dharur, Ambejogai, Parli

Osmanabad Division

• Osmanabad, Kalamb, Bhoom, Paranda, Tuljapur, Omerga

Latur Division

• Latur-1, Latur-2, Ahmadpur, Udgir, Ausa, Nilanga

Akola Division

• Akola-1, Akola-2, Telhara, Akot, Karanja, Mangrulpir, Washim, Murtizapur, Risod

Buldhana Division

Buldhana, Khamgaon, Malkapur, Chikhali, Mehkar, Jalgaon (Jamod), Shegaon

Yavatmal Division

Yavatmal, Darwha, Digras, Wani, Pusad, Umarkhed, Pandharkavada, wani, ralegaon, zarizamni, kalamb, ghtanji,ner, mahagaon, arni, maregaon

Amravati Division

Amravati-1,Amravati-2, Chandur Bazar, Chandur Railway, Daryapur, Paratwada, Dharni,Morshi,Warud,Anjangao,chikhaldara,Dhamangao,Badnera

Wardha Division

Wardha, Arvi, Hinganghat, Talegaon, Pulgaon

Reference

1. ^ "Welcome to the official website of MSRTC". Msrtc.gov.in. 1973-11-29. http://www.msrtc.gov.in/history.html. Retrieved 2010-10-07. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} ":: MSRTC :: About Us". Public.msrtcors.com. 1973-11-29. http://public.msrtcors.com/ticket_booking/About_Us.html. Retrieved 2010-10-07. 
3. ^ http://public.msrtcors.com/ticket_booking/ticket_booking.php
4. ^ 19 Jan, 2007, 02.58AM IST, Girish Kuber,TNN (2007-01-19). "MSRTC may lease out land in Pune, Nagpur - The Economic Times". Economictimes.indiatimes.com. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1289269.cms. Retrieved 2010-10-07. 

External links

• Official website of MSRTC
• MSRTC on Social Network orkut