As losses mount, Haryana decides to ply all buses at full capacity

According to the August 6 letter, issued by the transport department director, the government has decided to ply all buses of the Haryana Roadways at their full capacity but with strict adherence to the norms of sanitisation, seating and and other Covid-19 related precautions. CHANDIGARH: To cut losses incurred due to the Covid-19 lockdown, the Haryana Roadways has now decided to ply all buses at full capacity, as against only 30% occupancy since Unlock 1.0.

The total financial loss of the Haryana Roadways is expected to touch Rs 850 crore soon. While it had incurred Rs 600 crore losses till February, another Rs 250-crore loss has been accrued due to the lockdown. To recover losses and restore normal bus services in the state, the Haryana transport department on Thursday issued a letter allowing all its depots to run buses with full capacity.

According to the August 6 letter, issued by the transport department director, the government has decided to ply all buses of the Haryana Roadways at their full capacity but with strict adherence to the norms of sanitisation, seating and and other Covid-19 related precautions. The order was released for “strict compliance”.

There are 23 depots and 13 sub-depots of the roadways in Haryana and the total number of buses the carrier owns is around 4,200. The major sources of revenue for the roadways are the fare and the rent/ lease amount of various shops/ booths allotted by the entity at bus stands across the state.

Before the outbreak of Covid-19 in February this year, around 192 lakh passengers had travelled in the state roadways buses, which ferried only 2.87 lakh passengers in May, after the lockdown was lifted. While in February, the roadways buses had a run of around 285 lakh km, the same was down in May to around 25 lakh km.

However, a major problem facing the state roadways is non-permission by the neighbouring states like Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, and Punjab to enter its buses. With this, the state will not be able to ply buses on some long routes.

Follow and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Youtube