Hyderabad: The first Eamcet in residuary Andhra Pradesh is to be held on Friday, but getting to the exam centre seems to be the bigger test for aspirants this time.

Nearly 2.55 lakh students are set to appear for the exam, scheduled to be held in 494 centres across Andhra Pradesh and Hyderabad. Out of these, 1.70 lakh students will appear for the engineering exam, while nearly 84,000 will attempt the medicine stream exam.

The test, though, is even tougher for the engineering students as their exam begins at 10 am, while the medical aspirants can afford to breathe a little as their exam will begin only at 2.30 pm. In the absence of public transport, several engineering colleges and schools, apart from government departments like the police and fire departments, are providing their vehicles to ferry students to the exam centres.

Officials said students and parents need not worry, as special buses for Eamcet students have been arranged. Students can show their hall tickets and board these buses.

The government officials said that Eamcet special buses will run from all the mandal headquarters to the exam centres. Special buses for girls have also been arranged.

In fact, AP transport minister Siddha Raghava Rao said the government is trying to operate 5,500 buses, or more, to transport students to Eamcet centres.

“We have requested for buses along with drivers and conductors from neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments for Eamcet on Friday,” he said.

However, considering the unreliable nature of government-provided transport, most parents and students are making their own arrangements as well.