Pondicherry Road Transport Corporation

PRTC

Pondicherry State Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) is the government transport corporation in Pondicherry Union Territory that includes all the 4 Regions of Pondicherry namely Pondicherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam.

Contents

History

Pondicherry Tourism Development Corporation Limited (PTDC) was incorporated during February 1986 to promote tourism in the Union Territory of Pondicherry. With the introduction of transport service from March 1988, the Corporation was converted into Pondicherry Tourism & Transport Development Corporation Limited(PT&TDC) with effect from December, 1992. The Pondicherry Tourism & Transport Development Corporation Limited on the transport side is operating Interstate buses in 55 routes in all the four regions i.e. Pondicherry, Karaikal, Mahe & Yanam. Through its Inter-State routes, PT&TDC, provides direct services to important Tourist places in all the Southern States of India.

Besides this, PT&TDC is operating 23 town buses in all the four regions as follows: Pondicherry –14, Karaikal –13, Mahe –4, Yanam – 2. PT&TDC has paid up capital of about Rs.28.42 Crores and was incurring substantial annual loss on Tourism Sector. Hence, the Corporation was bifurcated with effect from 1 April 2005 as Pondicherry Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) and Pondicherry Tourism Development Corporation(PTDC) for giving much focus on the diversification and expansion projects.

Fleets

PRTC operates various Inter-state and Intra-State buses. The routes for Inter-State includes:

  1. Pondicherry–Chennai
  2. Pondicherry–Karaikal
  3. Pondicherry–Bangalore
  4. Pondicherry–Coimbatore
  5. Pondicherry–Tirupathi
  6. Pondicherry–Nagercoil
  7. Pondicherry–Kumuli
  8. Pondicherry–Tiruthani
  9. Pondicherry–Mahe
  10. Pondicherry–Velankanni
  11. Karaikal–Chennai
  12. Karaikal–Mayavaram
  13. Karaikal–Chidambaram
  14. Karaikal–Coimbatore
  15. Karaikal–Tiruchirapalli (cancelled after 3 years)
  16. Karaikal–Neyveli
  17. Mahe–Guruvayur

Future Plans and Expansions

PRTC has received a fresh batch of buses from JnNURM for the city operations. Around 25 Semi-Low-Floor buses are being operated to various destinations in and around the District of Pondicherry. It is yet to receive another fresh batch of 14 Semi-Low-Floor buses and 10 AC VOLVO buses. They would be added to the fleet of PRTC very soon.

There is also a proposal to replace all the Inter-State buses. All of them have done more than 10 lakh km and are very old. Very Recently PRTC has added 4 Ultra Delux buses of Prakash P8000 Model in Pondicherry - Mahe and Pondicherry - Nagercoil routes. Another 3 Ultra Delux buses are expected to be added to the fleet soon.

They also have invited Tenders for procurement of 200 Electronic Ticket Vending Machines. But there is no progress as of now in this regards.

VOLVO Buses

PRTC also operates 2 VOLVO AC buses to two different locations. They are:

  1. Tirunallar - Karaikal - Pondicherry - Chennai. (Temporarily not run due to bus accident )
  2. Pondicherry - Bangalore. (Cancelled due to court order)