Close on the heels of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) issuing a notification on January 24 to float KSRTC-SWIFT as an independent company to operate a fleet of long-distance buses, it is readying to launch ‘bypass rider’ services linking Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode.
The buses that will ply in the corridor, avoiding bus depots tucked inside towns, will be a mix of semi-sleeper and air-suspension buses. Once launched in the first week of February, the service could take up to three months to stabilise, says Biju Prabhakar, Chairman and Managing Director, KSRTC.
These buses, which will operate through the bypass corridors in different districts every hour, are expected to take two hours lesser than the existing buses to cover the distance. They will operate on the lines of the Chill Bus service that the KSRTC introduced about four years ago.
