The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) rolled out 10 new premium superfast AC buses for passengers on various routes inside the State on Tuesday.
The BS-VI-compliant bus manufactured by Tata Motors costs ₹39.8 lakh for each bus for the Corporation. The 40-seater buses will provide a slew of amenities for the passengers, including 1 GB of free wifi connectivity with a top-up facility for a marginal rate.
Further, all the reclining seats have facilities like mobile charging points, reading lamps, bottle holders, magazine pouches, sliding windows, side curtains, and seat belts, apart from music system, television facility, and CCTV surveillance. The electronic stability control (ESC), and AI camera-assisted driver monitoring enhance the safety of the passengers. The ticket rate in these buses would be slightly higher than the existing super fast buses, but more economical than other AC buses.
The buses were launched based on a feedback from the month-long trial run of the bus conducted on the Thiruvananthapuram-Kottayam-Eranakulam route. The Corporation is planning to procure more such buses after assessing the performance of these newly launched buses. The public utility is also planning to replace the old fast passenger buses and premium AC buses with these four-cylinder diesel-powered buses in phases.
Seats for the buses can be booked by passengers through the mobile app of the KSRTC. The buses were launched on Thiruvananthapuram-Kottayam-Muvattupuzha-Thrissur, Thiruvananthapuram-Kottayam-Vyttila-Thrissur, Thiruvananthapuram-Kottayam-Muvattupuzha-Angamali-Palakkad,Thiruvananthapuram-Kottayam-Vyttila-Bypass-Palakkad, and Thiruvananthapuram-Pathanamthitta-Pala-Thodupuzha routes. All the services from Thrissur to Kozhikode have been provided low-floor AC connection.
Chief Minister Pinaarayi Vijayan launched the service of the newly procured buses at the headquarters of KSRTC-SWIFT at Anayara in Thiruvananthapuram. Speaking after the launch of the new services, Mr. Vijayan said the new phase of the KSRTC has begun by providing better facilities to passengers and taking employee-friendly measures. The government has taken a stand to protect the KSRTC when it had gone through severe crisis. Today, the new 10 buses were procured by SWIFT, the new legal entity of the Corporation to run long-distance buses, using its own funds, he said.
Published - October 15, 2024 09:08 pm IST
