Biryani on board APSRTC buses
Hyderabad: Passengers travelling long distance by APSRTC buses can have the tasty Hyderabadi biryani from Paradise hotel, pure ghee sweets from Pulla Reddy Sweets and biscuits from Karachi Bakery, all with just a phone call or booking online.
The APSRTC has started 'dinner on board' facility especially for the long distance travellers. According to officials, the 'dinner on board' facility would be available for 15 selected AC buses in routes like Bengaluru, Pune, Shirdi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Kakinada and Tirupati. The food would be made available before the journey starts.
The passengers who book their ticket in advance booking can order their desired food and the food would be supplied to them, said an official. The passengers can call on 8688931666 before three hours of the schedule time of departure of the bus and order the items, which would be delivered to them in the bus, said the official.
The service would be available in Garuda, Garuda Plus and Vennela buses. The passengers can also log on to website www.alongtheway.in for booking their orders.
APSRTC executive director Greater Hyderabad zone A Koteshwar Rao said that this was the first of its kind service in the country. 'We get feedback from the passengers about their food choices and based on this we selected an agency to cater to the needs of the passengers,' said Koteshwar Rao.
Along The Way CEO Surendra Lingareddy said that they have a hygienic kitchen at Srinagar Colony, where they provide complete meal pack (4 roties+ veg curry+ sweet+ curd rice) for a price of Rs 150. For this, the passengers can order their food before 3 pm so that they can be prepared and delivered to the passengers before the departure time.
For other dishes like the Paradise biryani, Karachi bakery, Pulla Reddy sweets, passengers can call between 4 pm and 4.30 pm, said Lingareddy. He said that presently the food is supplied in MGBS and after three weeks, the food would be delivered at Lingampally (for Shirdi-Pune routes) since most of the passengers are boarding outside MGBS.
'We are tying up with APSRTC to have booking of the food while booking the ticket online,' he said.
Lingareddy said that the Paradise biryani would cost Rs 170, curd rice with pickle would cost Rs 100, three roties with veg curry would cost Rs 110, three rotis with non-veg curry would cost Rs 150, veg and non-veg sandwich from Subway would cost Rs 170 and Karachi bakery items and Pulla Reddy sweets would cost Rs 200 to Rs 440.
Along with the food items, paper napkin, spoons and a half liter water bottle would be provided, said Lingareddy. G Vinod Kumar, a pharmacist and a frequent traveller said that this facility would be best option for the passengers travelling in long distance buses.
'The bus drivers generally stop at Dhabas where the quality is compromised and the premises are unhygienic, which would have impact on the health,' said Vinod Kumar. At least with the branded organisations, passengers can be rest assured of quality of food, added Kumar.
News Posted: 4 January, 2014
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