The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation’s (MSRTC) Shivneri buses on the Mumbai-Pune route will soon have pantries catering to passengers onboard. These buses will henceforth not make a halt at the food court on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
“We have got the board’s approval to start pantries in our buses. To begin with, we plan to start it in the buses plying on shorter routes like Mumbai and Pune,” said Deepak Kapoor, managing director and vice-chairman of the MSRTC.
The idea to start this facility in MSRTC buses first came up in October 2010. However, it got delayed due to a difference in opinion with officers. The original plan was to have this service in all the buses plying the length and breadth of the state.
The argument was that, with the introduction of pantry inside the buses, the interiors will get dirty.
“The facility is also available on Rajdhani Express trains, which are able to keep the interiors clean. Finally a call was taken to push the project forward,” Mr Kapoor added.
Once snacks and drinks are introduced, these buses will run non-stop between the two destinations, thereby saving around 15 minutes of travel time between the two cities.
Furthermore, the MSRTC is studying air-conditioned buses with pantry and chemical toilet introduced by the Karanataka State Road Transport Corporat-ion in its six Airavat Bliss and Airavat Superia buses. Apart from this, the other features included are WiFi connectivity and individual television.