Benz Buses all set to redefine luxury travel in State

Hyderabad Dec 26 : Passengers can hope to travel long distance in the luxury of Mercedes Benz buses to be introduced by the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) soon. APSRTC officials said that for starters a Mercedes Benz bus would be test-driven for 45 days in the state. Based on its performance, the corporation will place an order for procuring a few MB buses.

During the test period, APSRTC will ply the bus and collect regular ticket fare from passengers. "Except fuel, there is nothing the corporation has to bear during the test period. The 45-seater vehicle will be given to the corporation with insurance," a senior APSRTC official said. Similarly, 17 new luxury buses (10 Luxura and seven Serita vehicles) would be introduced in addition to the existing 100 Garuda buses for high-end passengers. A high-end Tata 1623 will also hit the roads before the second week of January.

"The difference between new buses and the existing Garuda fleet is that the passenger will have more legroom and more space in the aisle. The driver will also have more comfortable place to run the vehicle," the official said. The corporation has formulated plans to run these luxury shuttle services buses between Hyderabad and Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Banglore and Tirupati and from Vijayawada to coastal Andhra.