Ganpati special buses for Konkan: MSRTC to operate 5,000 extra services

The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) on Monday said for Ganpati festival it would operate nearly 5,000 extra special buses from Mumbai, Thane and Palghar districts for Konkan region from Tuesday.
The state transport body said that 4,953 Ganapati special extra buses will be operated, including 4,200 buses that had been booked by groups.
The Ganesh mahotsav will start on September 7 and will end on September 16.

“Of these, 2,481, including 2064 that had been booked by groups, will be operated from Thane. Of the 1,841 buses that will be operated from Mumbai, 1578 will be those that are group-booked, while 417 will be extra buses. In Palghar, of the 631 buses, a total of 558 are of group booking and 73 will be extra buses,” MSRTC said in a statement.
Lakhs of people travel to their native and coastal areas in the Konkan region from Mumbai and Thane every year during the ten-day Ganpati festival, slated to start from September 7.

MSRTC also said that 100 per cent concession in ticket fare for passengers above 75 years of age and 50 per cent concession for women will be applicable in these 4,953 special buses.
Maintenance vehicles will be placed on Mumbai-Goa highway during the four-day period and temporary toilet facilities will also be provided at various places for the convenience of the passengers, said Abhijit Bhosale, MSRTC’s public relations officer (PRO).
MSRTC has a fleet of around 15,000 buses and a daily ridership of more than 60 lakh passengers.

It serves routes to towns and cities within Maharashtra as well as to its adjoining states.
In August during weekend-Raksha Bandhan (August 17 to 20), MSRTC had earned record ₹121 crore in revenue.
The highest single-day revenue of ₹35 crore was earned on August 20, a day after Rakshabandhan, MSRTC had said.