Tirupathi district has a specialty, it has three most important and powerful shrines – Kanipakkam Varasiddhi Vinayaka temple, Sri Kalahasti and Tirumala Tirupathi. The APSRTC has started AC electric buses from Tirupathi and it is getting an overwhelming response from the passengers.
On one side, it is providing pollution free travel and on the other side, it is providing significant revenue to the government in a cost effective manner. Hence, the APSRTC officials have started putting special focus on these buses.
The total number of buses catered is 100 and right now the Alipiri depot has 62 buses. 20 buses are plying between the Tirumala-Tirupathi routes and once the registration process is complete, Tirupathi-Nellore, Tirupathi-Cuddapah, Tirupathi-Madanapalle routes will have 12 buses each and 14 buses for Renigunta airport-Tirumala. Already, the first phase buses have travelled 20000 plus kms.
Usually, in the Tirumala route, a diesel bus generates revenue of Rs 71/ km but the electric buses generate Rs 104/km. With a charging of 3 hours, the buses can travel up to 180 kms. By 2030, the government is planning to have 50% fleet as electric buses.
