The Kerala State Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will induct 33 more electric buses into its fleet for city services in Thiruvananthapuram.
The buses procured under the Smart City project will be given to depots inside the City Corporation limits while others like buses funded by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) will be given to depots outside the Corporation limits. There would also be differences in the ticket fares of electric buses under the Smart City project and buses funded by KIIFB.
For instance, the public can travel in buses under the Smart City project at an economic fare of ₹10 to any point in the city circular route, while the KIIFB-funded buses will charge them ₹12 for a three-kilometre ride, the same fare as the ordinary fossil fuel-powered buses. Identifying the buses under various schemes would be the challenge of the public with the introduction of KIIFB-funded buses. A bus funded by KIIFB is procured at a cost of around ₹95 lakhs.
An order issued by the KSRTC An order issued by the KSRTC executive director (operations) maintains that the buses provided under the Smart City project should be deployed in depots under the city limits like Thiruvananthapuram City, Peroorkada, Vikas Bhavan, and Vizhinjam and other buses will be deployed in depots outside the City Corporation limits such as Neyyattinkara, Attingal and Kattakad based on the availability of charging facilities, the order said.
Earlier, Transport Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar’s remarks that electric buses would be phased out with diesel buses courted controversy. Though the Minister withdrew his remarks in the wake of strong public protests against the decision, the public utility has been taking various steps to enhance the ticket fares for electric buses.
As part of this move, some of the buses pressed into the city circular routes have been converted into point-to-point services. These point-to-point services have been charging a relatively higher fare than the city circular electric buses. With the introduction of KIIFB-funded buses, there would be multiple fares for different categories of electric buses, according to officials.
