Come April, Ranchi will offer cool rides on more routes.

Buoyed by the response to its superfast AC deluxe bus service, which was rolled out to select cities and towns on Statehood Day last year in partnership with private players, the state transport department has now approved four additional routes.

Officials of Hazaribagh-based Pammi Travels, a key player in the bus service, said non-stop rides would be offered from the capital to Gumla, Dhanbad, Simdega and Chaibasa.

Currently, the Drutgami Vatanukulit Deluxe Bus Seva is available from Ranchi to Jamshedpur, Hazaribagh, Giridih and Daltonganj. Around 30 buses ply on these routes.

"Our aim is to link all districts with Ranchi before the next Statehood Day celebrations. Hence, the four new routes. Some operational glitches do exist, which is only natural with any new venture, but response to this service is satisfactory so far. In fact, Giridih and Daltonganj routes were added later because of high demand," said a transport department official.

Md Asad Perwez, chairman of Pammi Travels, welcomed the decision to extend the service and said 20 brand new buses would be rolled out.

"The chassis have reached us. Assembly work is underway at our workshop. I believe by March-end, the buses will be ready to hit the road. Our target is to launch in April," he said, adding that fares would be announced soon.

Perwez, however, cited a major concern that may affect their existing Ranchi-Hazaribagh service.

"While coming to Ranchi, the travel time is an hour and a half, but buses bound for Hazaribagh take another extra hour because they are diverted from Khel Gaon. They are not allowed to go directly from Kantatoli to Booty More and beyond on NH-33. Passengers create a ruckus about this because no other buses are diverted. If the situation continues, people may not choose our services," he warned.

An inspector in the traffic department maintained that the diversion order applied to all heavy vehicles, but private buses rarely followed it.

"The AC buses are run on PPP mode with the government, so they are bound to follow diversion rules. We conduct crackdowns on private buses, but manpower shortage is an issue," he said.

Will you take a ride to one of the new destinations? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com