The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) which could have made good profits by monopolising the Tripunithura-Thiruvankulam nationalised route is yet to operate services along the sector.
The KSRTC had demanded monopoly over the route as per the Supreme Court ruling passed last year banning private buses on nationalised routes in the state.
Based on this, the Regional Transport Authority cancelled the permits of 72 private buses operating along the route. The KSRTC had initially planned to roll out 12 KSRTC buses to run on the route in the first stage. The officials had also mulled operating Rajdhani services for the same. The rest of the buses would be launched in a phased manner, it was decided.
However, more than a year later, the KSRTC is having second thoughts taking into consideration the unfeasibility of monopolising the route.
Officials with the KSRTC regional office, Ernakulam, said that recent studies showed that the route was unviable and would create huge losses for the KSRTC.
“The Road Transport Corporation cannot afford to roll out new buses exclusively for the route. Besides, the insufficient number of staff is yet another problem in operating the services. Passengers have been heavily depending on private buses in the route and have expressed unwillingness in only having KSRTC buses in the route. Hence, we are currently studying the possibility of operating buses during feasible timings.
We also have plans to operate buses in chronological order which would ensure profits for the Corporation,” the officials said. Once the schedule is prepared, it will be forwarded to the Chief Office at Thiruvananthapuram. Based on the total requirement of buses, the services of the KSRTC will be launched.Based on the failure of the KSRTC to operate the buses, the RTA has started renewing the permits of the private buses in the route taking into consideration the woes of the passengers.
New Indian Express
