THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The timely action taken by KSRTC to provide additional services reduced the struggles of commuters who depend on private inter-state buses during a strike called by the Interstate Bus Owners Association(IBOA). The strike was organised as a result of stringent actions taken by the 'Operation Night Riders' of the Motor Vehicles Department on inter-state buses.
According to Vishak, a staff at Kallada Travels, Thampanoor, as many as 450 interstate bookings were cancelled due to the strike. "As commuters were informed regarding the strike, they cancelled tickets prior to the strike. We began the refund process accordingly," he said.
However, many commuters had booked tickets even before the announcement, thus they expressed their unhappiness. "The passengers opted for other transportation modes. Regular customers who always find a comfortable journey in private buses are the ones who were affected by the strike," he said.
Most of the travel agencies in the city remained closed on Monday. Geetha, a staffer at Megha Travels at Thampanoor said, "Bookings were already cancelled as the strike was declared a week before. Hopefully, the meeting will result in our favour."
As many as 85 bookings in three buses to Bengaluru were cancelled at the Surya Travel Agency in Kazhakoottam. "The actions against the buses must be alleviated. Else the commuters will continue to suffer," said Biju Surya, owner of the agency. Extra services provided by KSRTC in places including Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Kannur and Alappuzha reduced the struggles of commuters. "The number of passengers travelling to Bengaluru was more. Thus we have arranged eight extra buses from major hubs. Also, the drivers have been given alerts to commence the journey as soon as the bus is full. They were informed to take up added services in case of shortages," said an official from the Operations Department, KSRTC. Leo James, a techie working with a software firm, said: "I prefer private buses as I'm more comfortable. But I was able to get seats in the KSRTC scania bus."