Yogi 2.0 hammers out Rs 750cr metro bus service for hinterland

Lucknow

In an outreach to the hinterland ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Yogi Adityanath government 2.0 has hammered out an ambitious Rs 750-crore metro bus service roadmap for the countryside.

The bus service will connect villages directly with the nearby metro cities, including New Delhi and Lucknow.

While the state has approved the proposal of procuring 1,500 buses for the proposed bus service, a sum of nearly Rs 750 crore is estimated to be incurred.

According to sources, the rural metro bus service would be rolled out over the next 6-9 months and it would be implemented in three phases.

In the first phase, about 900 buses would be deployed for the National Capital Region (NCR) and nearby districts to connect the hinterland with New Delhi and other big cities in the region.

In the second and third phases, 300 buses each would be deployed in the Bundelkhand and Purvanchal (Eastern UP) regions respectively to provide fast road connectivity from the villages to big cities and towns, including Lucknow, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Jhansi etc.

Moreover, dedicated depots would be developed for the new bus service and fresh routes identified to cut travel time and fuel consumption.

While the UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) provides bus services to more than 85,000 villages, about 12,000 villages are still deprived of direct bus connectivity.

The proposed rural metro bus service is aimed at bridging this gap before the end of the financial year 2022-23.