Two-way non-AC Nashik-Kolhapur bus from today

Nashik: The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation ( MSRTC ) has started a two-way bus service between Nashik and Kolhapur . The new non-AC seater-sleeper bus will hit the road from Thursday.

Each passenger will be charged Rs 765 between the said destinations as against Rs 900 charged by Shivshahi AC sleeper bus that is currently in service on the route, MSRTC officials said.

“This is ordinary seater-sleeper bus service with 30 recliner seats and 15 berths on the top. Tickets for the sleeper seats will be issued on first-come-first-serve basis. The fare for both sleeper and recliner seats is the same,” the officer said.

The tickets can be booked online as well as offline.

The 12-meter-long buses have been designed for overnight journeys and will be equipped with public information system, mobile charging points, night lamps, fans and two huge storage compartments.

The new seater-sleeper bus will leave from Nashik at 8:45 pm. At present, the AC Shivshahi bus running on the said route departs from Nashik at 9 pm.

“MSRTC’s new non-AC seater-sleeper bus will be beneficial for people. Currently, there is only one sleeper bus of MSRTC plying on the said route and it costs Rs 900 per person. This new bus service will be provide a great relief to people,” said Sanjay Patil of Nashik city.

An MSRTC official, on the condition of anonymity, said that the Shivshahi sleeper bus is likely to be withdrawn from service depending on the inflow of passengers. “At this point of time, it is unlikely that both the buses will run parallel on the same route, resulting in withdrawal of one,” the official said.

“At present, the bus will ply only on Nashik-Kolhapur-Nashik route and soon the services will be extended to other parts of the state with Nashik being the starting point. The favourable routes are Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Solapur and Goa,” the official said.