THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Transport Minister K B Ganesh Kumar has taken a U-turn on electric buses, once hailed as an eco-friendly alternative to replace the buses operating on diesel. Taking a stand opposite to his predecessor Antony Raju, Ganesh Kumar said that he would not encourage the further purchase of electric buses in KSRTC. “Electric buses are costly and make less revenue when compared to a diesel-operated bus. Electric buses have not proved to be a success anywhere. There is no guarantee of how long it will run. It is an unviable option for KSRTC in the present circumstances,” said Ganesh Kumar. His comments went against Antony Raju who termed the operation of Thiruvananthapuram city circular service using electric bus a success.
KSRTC Swift operates around 93 electric buses in the Thiruvananthapuram corporation limit as part of the Smart City project. The buses charging Rs 10 have found popularity among city riders. However, the minister said that the KSRTC was getting less money from these services. “An electric bus costs close to Rs 1 crore. With that money, we can buy four diesel buses of similar size. The average operation is 200 km and most of them are running in losses,” he said.
He also blamed the Rs 10 service for causing less collection to diesel-run KSRTC, private buses and autorickshaws on the route. The minister said he is planning to review the ticket price of circular services hinting at a fare hike. He also plans to sit with the officers to rearrange the entire schedules in T’puram on an experimental, take out loss-making services to other routes, trim the trips to save fuel etc.
KSRTC Swift planned to operate 113 new electric buses in the city limits. They will be getting 20 more electric buses as per the orders given. “We can use the diesel buses to high ranges which gives maximum revenue to KSRTC. But we cannot use electric buses there. The electric cars leased by the Motor Vehicle Department have also proved less efficient for the enforcement wing,” said Ganesh.