How 1 Pune-Ahmednagar bus built Maharashtra’s lifeline
4 min readJun 2, 2026 10:34 AM IST On June 1, 1948, a single bus rolled out of Swargate in Pune, headed for Ahmednagar—a modest 120-kilometre journey that would eventually grow into one of the country’s largest public road transport networks. The fare was nine paise. The seats were stuffed with coir. The body was wood. And almost nobody was convinced it would last. For over two years, scepticism ran deep. But the experiment was a success and served as a foundation for the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), which operates thousands of buses and serves as a lifeline for lakhs of people in the state. “The first ST bus service plied between two banyan trees, one located at Swargate and the other at Ahmednagar,” Kamlesh Dhanrale, Divisional Transport Officer, told The Indian Express. On Monday, 78 years later, the MSRTC’s Pune divisional office marked the occasion with a formal anniversary celebration. Before the MSRTC grew into one of the country’s largest public road transport networks, its buses were wooden. Drivers and conductors wore khaki …









