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In April 2011, our corporation inaugurated Charminar Mini and last batch of City Sheetal buses. It was part of Kiran Kumar Reddy's "100 day plan" or something. Since then, they went through a lot 1/N
We got buses of two makes - TATA Starbus and Ashok Leyland Stag. Unlike City Ordinary buses of the time, Charminar Mini were not painted Red. Both came in standard OEM livery with some splashes of green 2/N
Shortly after the launch, there were complaints of passengers mistaking them to private - SETWIN buses. So, they changed the colors for easy identification 3/N
Buses became popular, and there were problems of over crowding and having one narrow door that closed certainly did not help. So, they just removed the pneumatic doors 4/N
Also, these buses were built for staff transport and came with fancy seats attached with head rests and all that jazz. There was hardly any place on board for standees. Solution, change the seats from a 2x2 config, to 2x1 5/N
Minis were not comfortable to board despite all these modifications. that one narrow entrance was really bad. So, they just fabricated a new door. Solution ? 6/N
Years after all these changes, mini buses fizzled out of old city. Reason, costs outweighed earnings. Like every thing else. TSRTC started using them outside old city. My favorite was this one from Dilsukhnagar to Balapurr via Kharmangat. Only bus to Saroornagar lake 7/N
Having seen them change so much, I was heartbroken was when minis were delegated as "Change over" buses. (Change over buses are parked at terminal locations to help shift change) 8/N
Anyway, there was some respite. This short lived but very useful shuttle from Airport to Shamshabad ! At Rs.10, this was the cheapest ride out of the Airport. How cool is that ? 9/N
With all their problems, Mini Buses helped us reach places we could not. They helped us do cool things like short route shuttles. This is not the time to give up on them. We need to get more buses, of all sizes. I mean, look at them minis 
#smol 10/10
#smol 10/10
Feel like adding more 
Mini bus I used the most was this 63M. When I came back to work in Hyderabad, used this to skip all the maddening traffic at Lakdikapul + avoid crossing the road. What a route.
Mini bus I used the most was this 63M. When I came back to work in Hyderabad, used this to skip all the maddening traffic at Lakdikapul + avoid crossing the road. What a route.
Another weird detail. If I remember correctly, minis could not be registered in Hyderabad district (AP11) because they were BSIII. After much persuasion, buses were registered in Rangareddy (AP29).
