New Delhi: Almost three months after suspending the interstate bus services, RailYatri has now decided to restart smart bus services with 'safe plus' features between Delhi NCR to Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Amritsar and also plans to extend it to other cities.
The company, in a statement, that it has resumed its smart bus services from Delhi on the UP and Punjab routes. It said that it will start services from Bengaluru and Hyderabad to various cities in Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh from July 2.
The company further said that it has introduced the 'safe plus' initiative to ensure the safety of its travelers, crew and driver partners.
"IntrCity RailYatri has also launched COVID-19 insurance add-on for its travellers," it said.
On the new safe plus initiatives on IntrCity SmartBus, Manish Rathi, Co-founder and CEO IntrCity RailYatri, said: "When COVID-19 hit India and the first lockdown was announced, we realised that life as we knew it will change."
He said that they did an extensive survey which clearly stated that their travellers wanted hygiene, sanitisation and social distancing "to make them feel safe and travel with us".
"The pre-boarding eco-system was always a challenge for the travellers even in pre-Covid-19 and is now of utmost importance. We subsequently launched safe plus with a unique concept of private cabins for self and family," he added.
The company said that under the Safe plus initiative, there are pre-sanitised private cabins for safe and contamination-free travel, boarding from the IntrCity SmartBus lounges to ensure safe and social distancing compliant boarding, and a five step cleaning and sanitisation protocol which ensures that every Smart Bus would be disinfected and fumigated after every single trip.
It has also planned mandatory checkup of the staff where all IntrCity RailYatri crew are regularly checked for symptoms and undergo a thermal scan, are required to wear protective masks and gloves at all times and their Aarogya Setu application status is closely monitored for their safety and the safety of travellers.
Further, travellers will board the bus after a KYC process, quarantined patients will be allowed only after they are able to show a certificate, mandatory thermal check from contactless device and checking of Aarogya Setu app status. IntrCity will also be offering the passengers COVID-19 Insurance add-on along with existing free accidental cover worth Rs 5 lakh.
It has also urged the passengers to bring their own linen, blanket and inflatable pillows for their own safety. "However if needed, fresh sanitised blankets and personal bed-sheet are available from the bus captains," it added.
PTI
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