Shiv Shahi A/C buses earn Rs 1.71 cr in just 10 days!

In a major boost to state transport, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has earned nearly Rs 1.71 crore within 10 days by providing services to the public through its Shiv Shahi buses. A MSRTC senior official said that due to this success they have started a new bus service from Mumbai to Ratnagiri. The new services too are all booked well in advance up to May 16. “We have added 30-seater A/C buses from Mumbai to Kolhapur,” added an official.

Currently, MSRTC is running 1,113 services along 202 routes in the state out of which 751 Shiv Shahi buses are plying in the state, of these, 20 buses offer sleeper services. “The corporation will get another 1,249 buses by the year-end. So a total of 2,000 Shiv Shahi buses will be operating in the state.

Each bus has a seating capacity of 42 persons except for sleeper buses which have 30 seats each,” said an official.

He added that Shiv Shahi buses cover nearly 35,000 km everyday. “The bus is earning Rs 43 per km and the expenditure for running each service is Rs 35 per km, which means at each km, Rs 8 is the gross profit to the corporation,” said official.

As Shiv Shahi buses are in great demand, they are packed to capacity. However, due to traffic snarls at Bhiwandi bypass, buses are getting delayed leading to cancellation of buses from Ratnagiri. The AC sleeper departs from Mumbai at 10 pm and reaches Ratnagiri at 6 am everyday. The fare is Rs 872. The Mumbai-Kolhapur AC sleeper service will depart from Mumbai Central at 9.30 pm on Saturday and the fare is Rs 900 per passenger.