KOCHI: The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) seems to be gaining in confidence to expand its operations in the commercial capital and give a tough fight to the private bus operators as it is all set to launch five more non-AC semi-low floor buses in the city soon.
The once dormant state-owned transport company, which has been facing several ups and downs, including heavy financial liabilities, appears to be emboldened by the tremendous support it had received from the Kochiites to the recently introduced AC lowfloor and non-ac semi-low floor buses.
The new buses will be rolled out under the Urban Transportation Project funded by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
"Of the five buses, we have decided the routes for four. Two buses will ply on the Mattanchery-Perumbavoor route while the other two buses will conduct services between Aroor and Kakkanadu (via Eda Kochi)," KSRTC zonal officer G Jayaraj said. He said the route for the fifth bus will be finalised soon.
The 40 semi-lowfloor buses are being manufactured by Ashok Leyland and the bodies are built by Veera.
Jayaraj said the KSRTC had applied for the route permit, and the buses will start services once the permit was granted. "We are hopeful of obtaining the permit within a week so that the buses can be rolled out by midJuly," he said.
Already, 13 lowfloor AC Volvo buses and nine semilowfloor Leyland buses are plying on various routes in the city. With the introduction of five more buses, the number of JNNURM buses in Kochi will increase to 27. The number of buses, including AC lowfloor, nonAC semilowfloor, and minibuses that were sanctioned under the JNNURM scheme for Kochi is 200.