BENGALURU: Travel to Mysuru from Bengaluru will be swift, smooth, and noiseless with zero emission from January 16 onwards. Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation’s (KSRTC) will commence commercial operation of its ambitious electric bus service from Bengaluru to Mysuru with ticket fares priced at Rs 300.
As many as 50 e-buses are expected to be pressed onto six routes from Bengaluru by the end of February. The e-buses offer superior suspension and come with a television, premium seats,individual charging sockets, AC vents, reading lights and other comforts.
Addressing reporters on Friday, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation MD Anbu Kumar said, “Owing to various reasons, the launch of e-bus service was delayed by three months.
Now, the e-bus delivered to us December 31has completed trail runs successfully and the first e-bus will start from Bengaluru to Mysuru on January 16. The bus will run non-stop from Bengaluru to Mysuru and as it is a premium service ‘passes’ will not be allowed.”
The buses are expected to run 300km on a single charge. “We are expecting delivery of 50 e-buses by February to commence our operations from Bengaluru to Madikeri, Virajpet, Chikkamagaluru, Davanagere and Shivamogga,” Anbu Kumar said and added that charging stations are already in place at Bengaluru and Mysuru and in progress at Madikeri, Virajpet, Davanagere, Shivamogga and Chikkamangaluru bus stations.
The buses will be operated by private operator Olectra under Gross Cost Contract (GCC) and KSRTC will be paying Rs 55/km as operational cost, he said. He added that Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation is adding 650 ordinary buses and 20 Volvo buses in the coming weeks and this is expected to reduce shortage of buses in rural areas.