Assam State Transport Corporation
Assam State Transport Corporation or ASTC is a state government owned road transport corporation of Assam, India which provides bus services within Assam and adjoining states. Assam State Transport was started as a state government department with only two buses to run between Guwahati and Nagaon. Gradually the transport network of the department expanded throughout the state of Assam. Currently ASTC has 10 divisions, 135 bus stations and 3 Inter State Bus Terminals across the state.
History
Assam State Transport Corporation was a wing of transport department of Government of Assam before it was a corporation. It was formed as "Road Transport, Assam" under Home Department on 16 January 1948. Assam State Transport was started as a state government department with two buses to run between Guwahati and Nagaon. The state transport department was converted to a Corporation under Road Transport Corporation Act 1950 on 31 March 1970.The state has a target to convert all its bus fleets to electric bus by 2030, and starting 2025 will purchase only electric buses. On 1 January 2024, ASTC launched 200 AC electric buses for Guwahati and its adjoining areas.
Five charging stations are currently being established at strategic locations including Jagiroad, Baihata Chariali, Mirza, ASTC’s Rupnagar campus, and the ISBT in the Lokhra area of Guwahati. The Rupnagar station, featuring 16 charging points, has been completed and is operational.
Services
ASTC is the lifeline of road transport connectivity of the state as it operates buses on highways, city roads and even in the remote rural areas. It operates a fleet of 585 buses including Hi-Tech Luxury buses for long distances and Hi-Tech semi and mini deluxe bus services for city and rural areas. The subsidiaryAssam State Urban Transport Corporation operates the city bus services within Guwahati city. There are also many private buses operating under ASTC. Apart from that the corporation also partnered with some private Volvo bus operators to operate in Public Private Partnership mode.
Types of services
General services- AC Hi-Tech Luxury Coach
- Non AC Hi-Tech Luxury Coach
- Bharat Benz Coach
- Semi Deluxe Coach
- Tata Marcopolo City Service
- Volvo 8400 B7R LE Coach
- Tata/Olectra AC Electric bus service
- Volvo 9400 B8R and B11R Semi-Sleeper Coach fleets operated through PPP mode.
- The city cab service was introduced for Guwahati.