THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Transport minister Antony Raju virtually flagged off the state's first green bus services for regular commuters from the Thiruvananthapuram central depot on Monday.
The Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) powered buses will run along the Thiruvananthapuram-Ernakulam and Ernakulam-Kozhikode routes from Tuesday. The first commercial LNG bus service had been launched exclusively for Petronet employees in Kochi earlier.
The bus to Thiruvananthapuram starts from Ernakulam station at 5 am and will reach the capital at 11.15 am, while the one to Kozhikode sets off from Ernakulam at 6.30 am. The project is being run with the support of Petronet LNG, which gave away two LNG buses to KSRTC for a three-month trial.
According to Raju, the KSRTC will save at least Rs 500 crore every year through a full conversion. The public transport utility had decided to reduce dependence on diesel by turning to LNG and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as part of the organisational reforms. It issued orders to convert 400 buses with diesel engines to LNG compatible vehicles last year.
The KSRTC will conduct technical and financial feasibility of operating LNG buses by taking feedback from drivers and maintenance staff, the minister said. The exercise is expected to cost Rs 100 crore.
He said the government will also seriously consider helping private bus operators to convert their fleet to cheaper and environment-friendly fuels such as LNG.
LNG fuel is considered to be cheaper and less polluting when compared to diesel.