KOCHI: Though thousands of inter-district travellers resumed going to their workplaces, the public transport system, including trains and buses, are not finding enough takers. Among the various reasons, fewer number of services and the fear of contracting Covid-19 are stopping the passengers from using public transport. “Though special train services like the Jan Shatabdi are running within the state, we are seeing low passenger traffic,” said an official with the Railway.
Most of the services run empty and are being opted only by those who can’t avoid such a journey, he added. According to him, no decision has been made yet on how many trains will start services after June 30. “Even trains like Venad Express, which was otherwise used by the office-goers, are unlikely to see good patronage due to the current situation,” the official said. Another issue, as pointed by Nina Jacob, who works with an insurance company in Kochi, is the timing. “The timing of the services don’t coincide with the office hours,” she said. According to her, though trains are an easy and preferred mode of transportation for many office-goers, not everyone is comfortable.
Anju Sunny, a government employee, agrees, “Travelling via road and that too in a bus every day takes a toll on a person’s health. KSRTC is running only a few services from Ernakulam to Kottayam. Even those services are at times which are not convenient for every office-goer,” said Anju.However, KSRTC officials have their reasons for conducting services at specific timings between 5am to 9pm. “The only time we see an increase in the number of passengers is during the peak hours coinciding with the office timings,” said V M Thajudheen Sahib, District Transport Officer, Ernakulam. Once the office rush is over, the number of passengers falls sharply, he added.
Operating services for a handful of passengers is not viable for KSRTC, said Thajudheen. “We have been conducting ample services in strict adherence to the Covid-19 guidelines. It should be noted that the services have to end by 9pm and these buses have to start early from their parent depots. Hence, services to Kottayam need to start at least as early as 3:30pm or 4pm,” he said. He said the situation willcontinue to be the same for some more time. “With positive cases increasing in the state, people are wary of contracting the infection and want to reach their homes before nightfall. So, most of them are sharing facilities with their friends to avoid contact with strangers,” he said.
Office-goers book tourist buses, share cars
People from Alappuzha, Kottayam and even Thiruvananthapuram who depended on trains to reach their places of work are now opting to sharing cars and hiring tourist buses. “We have created a WhatsApp group where people who have vehicles and are planning to take them out to travel to the neighbouring districts can post their willingness to accommodate additional passengers,” said Liyons J, secretary, Friends on Rails. “We maintain total secrecy and never divulge the number of the driver since it might be inconvenient to the person,” he said. Such a system of car-sharing saw people travelling to places as far as Kasaragod, he added.
Fear makes women take risks
With public transportation becoming a questionable option, especially for the long-distance journey, women who have to travel daily to their workplaces in the neighbouring districts have awakened their latent driving skills. “They prefer risking the long drive to contracting the infection. The former is a risk only to themselves but Covid is something that threatens their entire family,” said Rajani Menon, a government official. “So, many women have taken to travelling on their two-wheelers. Of course, it is very risky. Travelling for more than an hour at a stretch is not only physically draining but also dangerous,” she said. However, they don’t have any other option.