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Cruising time for State Road Transport Corporation

Staff Correspondent

Adjudged one of the top corporations amongst small hill States

SHIMLA: The Government owned Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation is making a steady progress in the otherwise backward hill State of Himachal. In absence of any waterways, major railways and airways, roads are the only and major mode of communication and transport in the State.

The HRTC came into existence in 1974 with a fleet of 733 buses and 379 bus routes which have now gone upto 1824 routes, according to an official spokesman.

Today the total coverage by HRTC buses is 1450.41 lakh kms, whereas in 1974 it was only 303.29 lakh kms. The road accidents have also decreased considerably. The fleet utilisation, in 1974 was 79.8 per cent whereas it has increased to 98 per cent in 2004-05, informed the spokesman.

The four transport divisions situated at Shimla, Mandi, Dharamsala and Hamirpur besides 23 depots are providing efficient, safe, economical, adequate and well-coordinated passenger transport services to the locals as well as tourists in the State. The buses of Corporation are plying in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Chandigarh and Uttaranchal. The Corporation is also operating its buses in remotest areas of the hill state like the famous Kibber and nearby villages which have the highest altitude in Asia, he claimed.

To provide comfortable transport services to the tourists as well as the people of the State, Volvo A.C. buses have been introduced between Shimla and Delhi, Dharamsala and Delhi, Manali and Delhi and Shimla and Jaipur. With a view to provide the direct services from district head quarters to State capital, the Corporation has introduced express (non-stop) services between Shimla and various district headquarters.

The spokesman further claimed that the HRTC has been awarded with various awards amongst the Hill transport corporations of the country for best performances in the vehicle productivity and lowest operational costs categories. The Transport Minister has been honoured with a trophy for the year 2003-04 & 2004-05 for providing efficient and safe transport service.

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Cruising time for State Road Transport Corporation

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