Soon,semi-luxury buses to Alibaug,Bhiwandi every 30 minutes

Officials also said that there has been a demand to increase the services in these areas as they are close to Mumbai. The MSRTC runs direct buses from Mumbai to far flung areas in the MMR.

Alibaug,a costal town in Raigad district,is one of the upcoming areas in the MMR and needs better connectivity with other cities. The luxury bus will cover the distance of 109 km and will leave from Mumbai Central with halts at Dadar,Kurla Nehru Nagar,Maitri Park,Vashi Phata,Konkan Bhavan,Panvel,Ramwadi (Pen) and Vadkhal naka and Poinad. The fare for the 2 hours 45 minutes journey would be Rs 90 for an adult and Rs 45 for a child.

“There was also a demand to increase the bus service between Bhiwandi and Mumbai as the area is becoming a commercial hub for small scale industries,” said an MSRTC official.

Thane to get 100 new buses by Oct-end
With the first batch of 100 new buses to roll out this month-end,commuting in Thane is likely to become more comfortable. These additional buses are a part of the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme under which the Thane Municipal Transport will be procuring 200 buses.

“We should get the first batch of 100 buses by the end of this month. The new buses would be replacing the old ones that cannot ply on the road,” said a senior TMT official. Of the 196 buses currently with the TMT,only 100 buses are in good condition. Almost all the municipal transport units in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region are procuring more buses under the JNNURM scheme and expanding their base. For example,smaller transport units like the Kalyan-Dombivli,Mira-Bhayander,Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) units will now be starting more inter-city services. But the TMT has,instead,decided to upgrade its fleet by replacing the old buses with new ones. “First let us cater to the needs of Thane residents,and then we can think of competing with others. The condition of our buses is not good,so we decided to replace them first,” the officer added.

Meanwhile,NMMT officials said that by October end,Navi Mumbai too would be getting 25 brand new buses. “Till now,we have introduced 11 new Volvo AC buses in our fleet. Work of body-building of 25 buses is on and these buses should ply on the road by the end of October,” said an NMMT official.