Himachal Road Transport Corporation, also referred to as HRTC, is the state-owned

road transport Road transport or road transportation is a type of transport using roads. Transport on roads can be roughly grouped into the transportation of goods and transportation of people. In many countries licensing requirements and safety regulations ...

corporation of the state of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several pea ...

, India. HRTC provides bus services to towns and cities within Himachal Pradesh and the adjoining and nearby states of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

and

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...

. HRTC is one of the first RTC's in India to offer a facility for online booking of tickets for all types of buses.

History

The corporation was jointly founded by the Government of Punjab,

Government of Himachal Pradesh The Government of Himachal Pradesh also known as the State Government of Himachal Pradesh, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It consists of an executive branch, led by th ...

and

Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

as Mandi-Kullu Road Transport Corporation in 1958 to operate in

and

. The corporation was merged with Himachal Govt. Transport on 2 October 1974 and was renamed as Himachal Road Transport Corporation.

Supporting infrastructure

HRTC has its corporate office at

Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, ...

and four divisional offices at

Mandi Mandi may refer to: Places * Mandı, Azerbaijan India * Mandi, Jammu and Kashmir, a town on the Mandi River in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir * Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, a city in Himachal Pradesh ** Mandi State, former princely s ...

, Hamirpur and

Dharamshala Dharamshala (; also spelled Dharamsala) is the winter capital of Himachal Pradesh, India. It serves as administrative headquarters of the Kangra district after being relocated from Kangra, a city located away from Dharamshala, in 1855. The ...

, each having integrated workshop. It has 31

depots Depot ( or ) may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Island, Kemp Land, Antarctica * Depot Island, Victoria Land, Antarctica * Depot Island Formation, Greenland Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in ...

each with a regional workshop. HRTC also owns 3 bus body building units along with 3 tyre pre-cure re-treading plants at Mandi,

Parwanoo Parwanoo or Parwanu is a municipal council in Solan district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is an industrial town. It has himachal's biggest wholesale market. It borders Panchkula Panchkula (PKL) is a planned city and district ...

and Jassur. HRTC routinely upgrades driving skills of its staff and train new drivers at its Driver Training Institutes located at Jassur, Mandi, Taradevi, Hamirpur,

Chamba Chamba may refer to: People *Gilberto Chamba (born 1961), Ecuadorian serial killer *Jessica Chamba (born 1981), European activist Places Ghana * Chamba, a town in the Northern Region India * Chamba (Vidhan Sabha constituency), Himachal Pradesh * ...

Sarkaghat Sarkaghat is a city and a tehsil, near Mandi city in Mandi district of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Sarkaghat is one of the 5 Local Urban Bodies in Mandi District. The town is located about 60 km away from the district headquarter ...

and Kullu.

Operating Conditions

Other than regular services connecting Himachal to Chandigarh, Delhi and Haridwar; HRTC operates buses on some of the highest motorable roads in the world. These routes include Leh-Delhi, Shimla-Kaza, Kullu-Kaza, Manali – Reckongpeo and others. The Leh-Delhi routes operated by HRTC is 1203 km long and is the longest route by any RTC in India with a travel time of approx. 36 hours. The roads to Keylong & leh are also termed as the world's most treacherous roads.

Fleet

HRTC has a fleet of 3358 buses & categorize its buses into 5 categories as * HIMSUTA-

Volvo Buses Volvo Buses (Volvo Bus Corporation / formal name: ''Volvo Bussar AB'') (stylized as VOLVO) is a subsidiary and a business area of the Swedish vehicle maker Volvo, which became an independent division in 1968. It is based in Gothenburg. It is on ...

Scania AB Scania AB is a major Swedish manufacturer headquartered in Södertälje, focusing on commercial vehicles—specifically heavy lorries, trucks and buses. It also manufactures diesel engines for heavy vehicles as well as marine and general ind ...

buses * HIMGAURAV- Isuzu and Deluxe AC buses * HIMMANI-

Ashok Leyland Ashok Leyland is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturer, headquartered in Chennai. It is owned by the Hinduja Group. It was founded in 1948 as Ashok Motors and became Ashok Leyland in the year 1955. Ashok Leyland is the second-most ...

Deluxe (Non-AC) buses * HIM TARANG- (Electric buses) * HIM DHARA-(AC-ORDINARY 3×2)

* ORDINARY and mini/local city buses

Tata Marcopolo Tata Marcopolo (officially Tata Marcopolo Motors Ltd.) is a bus and coach manufacturing company headquartered in Karnataka, India and a joint venture between Tata Motors and Marcopolo S.A. Tata Motors will buy the 49 percent stake held by its ...

JnNURM Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) was a massive city-modernization scheme launched by the Government of India under the Ministry of Urban Development. It envisaged a total investment of over $20 billion over seven years. ...

to fulfill urban transportation needs.]

HIMSUTA (HRTC Volvo &
Scania AB Scania AB is a major Swedish manufacturer headquartered in Södertälje, focusing on commercial vehicles—specifically heavy lorries, trucks and buses. It also manufactures diesel engines for heavy vehicles as well as marine and general ind ...
)

HRTC was the first operator in North India to start Volvo services on Shimla-Delhi and Manali-Delhi routes in 2005 on trial basis. The total Volvo and Scania AB fleet currently stands at 100+ buses with daily buses running from Delhi to Shimla, Manali, Dharamshala, Joginder Nagar, Baijnath, Hamirpur, Nalagarh, Chintpurni, Jawala ji, Pathankot, Chamba, Palampur, Rewalsar, Bir, Rohru, Jispa, and Sarkaghat. Also some new routes are started from Chandigarh Airport to Shimla, Manali, Dharmshala. Also new route started from Mata Vaishno Devi Katra to Shimla. HRTC's 'Himsuta' bus fleet include the Volvo 9400 model made on B7R chassis and Scania AB Metrolink HD 12.0m. These 12 meter buses have ten rows of luxury semi-sleeper seats and charging ports. Additional facilities include free Wifi, entertainment on board and water bottles. The buses are also equipped with CCTV camera's for passenger security.

HIMGAURAV (Air-conditioned Deluxe buses)

HRTC operates air-conditioned Deluxe buses with 2X2 seating configuration on all important routes including Delhi-Shimla, Delhi-Manali, Delhi-Dharamshala and others. The buses also run on a few intrastate routes including Manali-Shimla. Besides the 11.4 meter luxury Isuzu buses, this class also includes buses built b
JCBL
and Amar on 210", 243" and 222" WB chassis by TATA or Ashok Leyland. The buses are provided with 35 comfortable and luxurious passenger seats with pushback.

HIM-MANI (NON AC – Deluxe buses)

HRTC operates Deluxe buses with 2X2 seating configuration on Delhi-Dehra, Delhi-Shimla, Delhi-Manali, Delhi-Dharamshala, Delhi-Joginder nagar, Delhi-Baijnath, Delhi-Dharampur, Chamba-Shimla , Chamba-Deheradun ,Deheradun-Shimla and Manali-Shimla routes. The buses are provided with 31 comfortable and luxurious passenger seats with pushback. Along with LED facility, charging ports are available for each seat.

ORDINARY Buses

HRTC operates 47 and 37 seater ordinary buses on all routes. The buses come in 2X3 seating configuration and ply on ordinary fare. The buses are manufactured by ACGL and Tata Marcopolo on TATA 1512 and 1613 chassis, New Ashok Leyland BS6(added on June 2022) .

JnNURM (City buses)

The bus are purchased from TATA and Ashok-leyland. The buses are provided with 2X2 passenger seats. The buses are fitted with digital destination boards. The buses are also fitted with air Brakes and power steering. and a new technology is added like automated doors etc.

HIM-DHARA (AC-ORDINARY Buses)

Made by Ashok Leyland and Body by Prakash. Purchased in may/june 2022. Currently in operation.Some routes are Joginder Nagar-Chandigarh, Mandi-Delhi, Sundernagar-Chamba, Shimla-Delhi, Palampur-Delhi, Joginder Nagar- Ludhiana, Mcleodganj-Delhi, Manali-Jammu, Dharampur-Delhi, Hamirpur-Delhi etc. Seat capacity is 51. Buses are provided with 3×2 passenger seat. Ac above every seat and 2 usb post in every column.2 cctvs, first aids and co2 cylinders. Bus is BS6 type and have 2 entry gates.

HIM TARANG (Electric buses)

Made by Goldstone, the buses are capable of running 250 km on a single charge. However, that depends on road conditions and driving style. Apart from the zero emission completely electric, the bus also comes equipped with several advanced technologies. Named as ‘Him Tarang’ the bus runs between the Manali and Rohtang Pass as part of the state government's initiative to save the environment. It covers this 50 km route regularly which is very popular among the tourists. With the initiative, this electric bus is the first zero emission bus that runs at the highest place anywhere in the world. Also, recently it has been introduced in local routes in Shimla.

List of depots with Division

Following are the HRTC depots Of Himachal Pradesh:

References

External links

Official websiteAssociation of State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU)
{{Authority control State agencies of Himachal Pradesh State road transport corporations of India Transport in Himachal Pradesh 1958 establishments in Himachal Pradesh Government agencies established in 1958 Transport companies established in 1958 Indian companies established in 1958