KOCHI: In what might provide relief to hundreds of daily commuters from Vypeen and nearby regions, more buses will soon conduct direct services from Vypeen to various destinations in the Kochi city.
A high-level meeting chaired by Transport Minister K B Ganesh Kumar on Wednesday decided to deploy 10 buses of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) to provide direct connectivity for the islanders in and around the Vypeen region to various city centres in Ernakulam.
“The buses will start operating at the end of this month. The schedules and routes will be fixed in the coming days,” said Vypeen MLA K N Unnikrishnan, who attended the meeting.
Besides, 30 private bus owners have submitted applications for permits to conduct the direct services. “The same will be allotted as and when they will produce the buses,” the MLA said. For the past over 20 years, private buses were not allowed to operate direct services from Vypeen to various destinations in the Kochi city.
The buses will start/terminate services at the High Court, necessitating the commuters to again board another bus or depend on other modes of transport to reach their destinations in the city.
“The direct entry of private buses from Vypeen region to the city has been a long-pending demand of the islanders ever since the Goshree bridges connecting the islands were opened to the public on June 5, 2004. Finally their commutation woes are being addressed,” Unnikrishnan said.
The first direct bus service to destinations in the Kochi city started last month, connecting Njarakkal to Vyttila Hub via Edavanakkad and Ernakulam South. Another service from Edavanakkad too started last month. Both the services have 12 schedules.