Ranchi, April 7: Two new city buses joined the existing fleet in Ranchi today to ply on a new route — from Sadabahar Chowk in Namkum to Kutchery via high court, Rajendra Chowk and Main Road.

The new route will see a bus running almost every hour between 6.30am and 8pm.

N.K. Singh, the Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation (JTDC) manager who looks after the city bus service in Ranchi, said the new route was incorporated on the demand of residents.

“Residents of Namkum wanted a bus via Jharkhand High Court and after deliberation we decided to give two buses on the route,” he said.

Singh added that the authorities were thinking of adding two buses, which would ply between Ramgarh and Kanta Toli bus stand, an important route covering over 40km along NH-33.

The route witnesses much traffic and commuters are also in plenty as it covers places like Apollo Hospital, Ormanjhi and Birsa Munda zoo.

“Besides running on major thoroughfares within the city, till yesterday the city buses were touching the city’s outskirts like Angara, Bero, Khunti, Dasmile Chowk, Ratu Chatti and Booty. From today it is plying to Sadabahar Chowk in Namkum and very soon it will go to Ramgarh on public demand,” Singh said.

City buses being run as part of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) are in great demand in the capital.

Though as many as 50 buses are on the roads courtesy JTDC, plying on nine specified routes catering to as many as 20,000 people from different parts of the city and outskirts everyday, it is still not enough.

“As buses are not available at regular intervals, I prefer auto-rickshaws to city buses. Apart from this, there is heavy rush in the city bus as they are limited in number,” said Umakant Mishra, who runs a printing press in the city.