Mumbai, May 11 (PTI) In a bid to increase its revenue and passenger capacity on its buses, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) will bring back the 3×2 seating arrangement after more than 15 years, officials said on Sunday.

Earlier this week, the transport body’s board approved the purchase of 3,000 new buses with conventional 3×2 seating instead of the existing 2×2 arrangement in ordinary buses, they said.

Talking to PTI, state Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik said the 3×2 seating will bring more revenue to the corporation and give the passengers a comfortable ride, especially in rural areas.

“Earlier, there were 52-55 seats in a bus, but now that number has come down to 40. So automatically, the requirement for buses went up, but the income per trip dropped. Hence, we decided to reintroduce 3×2 buses in the fleet.” According to officials, this as a significant development, as it will help the loss-making corporation generate more revenue and enable it to carry more passengers per bus.

With a fleet of around 15,000, including around 12,500 ordinary buses, the MSRTC is the largest state transport corporation in the country.

Officials pointed out that the ordinary buses of state transport corporations in neighbouring states still follow the 3×2 seating arrangement, and even the semi-luxury buses of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) have this layout.

An MSRTC official said Minister Sarnaik visited the KSRTC and GSRTC with senior officials, learnt the economics of seating arrangements in ordinary buses and decided to reintroduce the 3×2 format.

“Passengers were forced to travel standing in the gangway. At least they now will get a place to sit and travel comfortably,” he said.

He said the number of women and elderly passengers increased significantly since the state government made travel free for senior citizens and gave a 50 per cent concession to women.

The official said around 2008, the corporation decided to change the seating format and the iconic yellow-red colour scheme and rebranded its ordinary buses as “Parivartan” (transformation) by introducing a 2×2 seating arrangement.

As these buses were more spacious and comfortable, they became popular among passengers.

Officials said while the 2×2 seating arrangement provided comfort, especially on urban routes, with features like hand rests, a wider gangway, etc., passengers on crowded rural or semi-urban routes were dissatisfied.

With the 3×2 seating arrangement, the seats and gangway may feel a bit congested, but passengers are more likely to get a seat during their journey, as the number of seats in 11-metre-long ordinary buses will increase from 40 to 50, they said.

A senior official said the corporation has already floated a tender for 3×2 seat ordinary buses, and a pre-bid meeting has happened.

He said it would take a few months for these buses to hit the streets of Maharashtra.

“These buses will be effective on short and medium short-distance routes,” the official said. PTI KK ARU