NASHIK: The Shivshahi air-conditioned sleeper service, one of the most promising services of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) or ST Corporation, has been shut down. The withdrawal of some companies from the leased service has led to the closure of the service.
The other reason is a cold response from passengers. The ST’s non-air-conditioned sleeper service, which is currently operational, is receiving a good response. In August 2018, Shivshahi sleeper coach got introduced as an air-conditioned bus service, and the first bus ran on Shirpur (Dhule)-Pune route.
This service was later expanded to other routes. The ST Corporation had chosen several routes for these buses that included Mumbai to Kolhapur, Jalgaon, Parli, Akkalkot, Ambejogai, Pune to Nanded, Latur to Kolhapur, Aurangabad to Mumbai Central. However, the low rate of private services compared to fares of more than Rs 1,000 has led to less response to this service. Therefore, in February 2019, the fare of Shivshahi air-conditioned sleeper on various routes got reduced by Rs 230 to Rs 505.
However, the average passenger load of this service remained at 35 to 40 percent. Some of the companies withdrew from the service due to the terms and conditions of the ST Corporation and the losses incurred by the leasing companies. Therefore, out of the total 68, 30 air-conditioned sleeper buses remained in the convoy. The service was completely shut down in March 2020 due to a lockdown. Now there are no air-conditioned sleeper buses in ST’s fleet.
