On the Hyderabad-Vijayawada stretch, over 1,400 sleeper buses ferry 1000's of passengers each night time, whereas 1,200 buses run between Delhi and Lucknow. Be it Ahmedabad-Mumbai or Delhi-Chandigarh, sleeping passengers trundle by the darkness to succeed in their hometown or office within the morning.
How effectively can they sleep? How protected are the buses?
Even because the sector is rising at a speedy clip, a spate of fireside accidents has raised critical questions on security compliance and oversight. This was dropped at obvious mild within the early hours of October 24 when a sleeper bus sure for Bengaluru from Hyderabad was a fireball in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, killing at the least 19 passengers.
The automobile had hit a bike and because it dragged the two-wheeler on the street, the leaking gas and friction might have ignited the hearth. Passengers woke as much as blazing flames, screams and smoke. Some broke open home windows to flee; others had been trapped within the inferno. The bus was a Scania seater that had been transformed right into a sleeper with unauthorised modifications.
FLY-BY-NIGHT BUILDERS
“If buses are constructed correctly, 50% of such accidents could be prevented,” says Prasanna Patwardhan, president, Bus & Automotive Operators Confederation of India (BOCI). “On this case, the bus had been altered past recognition. Such practices put lives in danger and injury the business's status.” The tragedy uncovered the darkish facet of India's booming bus market, the place unorganised physique builders modify chassis and use substandard supplies to chop prices, flouting all security requirements. Following latest incidents, together with a Jaisalmer-Jodhpur bus catching fireplace on October 14, many state governments are tightening laws, mandating standardised codes for bus our bodies, licensed wiring, fire-retardant interiors and GPS monitoring. Rooftop baggage and unsafe cargo have been banned.
A personal bus caught fireplace on the Jaipur-Delhi freeway on October 28 after fuel cylinders and two-wheelers loaded on the roof hit an influence line.
The weak hyperlink is enforcement. Tons of of small-scale, unorganised physique outlets function with out oversight, usually extending bus chassis to extend capability or including roof carriers that block emergency exits.
“The entry barrier is extraordinarily low,” says Patwardhan. “Some operators bypass each security rule for short-term business positive aspects. It's unlucky that regional transport workplaces enable such buses to ply.”
The Ministry of Street Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is now contemplating the cancellation of licences of auto physique builders that fail to adjust to security norms. Officers say solely unique gear producers (OEMs) or licensed builders must be permitted to assemble bus our bodies.
“In India, buses carry 75% of complete passenger transport,” says Patwardhan. “Buses make 32 crore passenger journeys per day [which means they carry 32 crore passengers] — 10 instances greater than Indian Railways and 600 instances greater than aviation. This can be a enormous duty.”
SAFE WAY FORWARD
OEMs similar to Volvo and Tata Motors say standardised, factory-built coaches are the one sustainable approach ahead.
“For us, security is non-negotiable,” says Suresh Chettiar, government vice-president, bus division, Volvo Eicher Business Automobile (VECV). “When a bus catches fireplace, it's not what the bus might do — however what it was allowed to do.”
Volvo's intercity buses are outfitted with superior digital braking techniques, engine fireplace detection, under-run safety and a number of fireplace exits. The corporate additionally trains drivers for at the least 5 days earlier than handing over any new bus. “If we discover the motive force untrained or the bus tampered with, we cancel the guarantee,” says Chettiar.
Tata Motors is increasing its intercity portfolio with platforms just like the Tata LPO 1822 chassis, designed for fatigue-free journeys and accessible in each seater and sleeper configurations.
“India's intercity ecosystem is evolving quickly,” says Anand S, vice-president and head of economic passenger automobile enterprise at Tata Motors. “Passengers are extra conscious and their expectations from bus journey have risen considerably.”
In the meantime, digital-first aggregators similar to RedBus, ZingBus, IntrCity SmartBus and FlixBus have emerged within the sector.
“At FlixBus, each journey is monitored in actual time,” says Surya Khurana, MD of FlixBus India, which works with about 30 operators that run buses between Indian cities. “We use GPS and telematics to trace driver behaviour and fatigue. If our system detects yawning or inattention, the motive force is instructed to relaxation and the co-driver takes over.”
FlixBus additionally mandates seat belts in all rows — not like most fleets, which set up them solely within the entrance seats. “We retrofit each seat with seat belts,” says Khurana.
FlixBus has seen a surge in demand as trains battle to satisfy the journey wants of India's rising center class. “The sleeper bus is quick turning into a substitute for trains on many routes,” says Khurana.
Regardless of the efforts of OEMs and aggregators, the unorganised automobile body-building sector continues to undermine security.
“Emergency doorways and roof hatches are sometimes eliminated to create space or cut back prices,” says Patwardhan. “Some buses are prolonged past permissible size, and but they get RTO approvals.”
Such practices, he warns, can jeopardise the whole intercity bus sector if left unchecked. “A number of rogue builders and operators are giving the business a nasty title. Compliance with bus physique codes, use of fire-retardant supplies and correct wiring have to be strictly enforced,” he says.
DEMAND SURGES
After the Covid-19 lockdowns, almost 30% of intercity buses had been off the street. Right now, capability has bounced again strongly. With trains unable to maintain tempo and rising airfares, the sleeper bus has turn into the popular mode of journey for India's cost-conscious center class.
“India's buses play a important position in financial and social connectivity,” says Patwardhan. “However each accident erodes belief. We should be certain that such incidents by no means happen due to negligence or non-compliance.”
Says Chettiar: “The ecosystem — not simply producers, but additionally operators, regulators and enforcers — should take collective duty.”
As intercity journey accelerates on the again of improved highways and rising demand, India's sleeper bus revolution stands at a crossroads — between consolation and complacency. The following part of development, consultants say, have to be constructed not simply on velocity and capability, however on security, standardisation and accountability.
As Chettiar says: “In security, there is no such thing as a flexibility. The street doesn't forgive negligence.”
