KSRTC Started Electric Bus Services on Trivandrum – Ernakulam Route
Opening a new chapter in the public transport scenario of the State, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation launched 10 zero-emission air-conditioned battery electric vehicles (BEVs) on the Thiruvananthapuram-Ernakulam-Thiruvananthapuram route and in Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram cities.
The inter-city services to Ernakulam and back will be via Alappuzha and will be at 4 a.m., 4.30 a.m., 5 a.m., 5.30 a.m., 6 a.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 7 p.m., 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. daily.
Online ticket reservation facility is available for the services and there will be a conductor in the bus.
The low-floor buses will stop at Attingal, Kollam, Karunagapally, Kayamkulam, Haripad and Alappuzha and fares for the BEVs will be on a par with those levied in the low-floor air-conditioned Volvo buses.
In addition to the inter-city serivces, the BEVs will operate from Thiruvananthapuram to Kaliyikkavila on the Kerala-Tanil Nadu border, Peroorkada to Nedumangad, Pothencode-Venjaramood, Kovalam-Technopark-Attingal corridors in the capital district.
In Ernakulam, the services will be to Muvattupuzha via Fort Kochi, Mattanchery and Nedumabaserry, Angamaly via Aroor, Nedumbaserry via Maneka and another service to Nedumbaserry via Vytilla and Kundanoor.
Five BEVs each
“The KSRTC will deploy five BEVs each in the inter-city corridor from Monday. On reaching Ernakulam and Thiruvanantapuram, these five buses will ply locally before returning to their bases in the evening as per the schedule announced,” a top KSRTC official said.
The environment-friendly Olectra-BYD’s electric bus, manufactured under the ‘Make in India’ initiative and wet-leased by the KSRTC for 10 years, is being deployed after its successful chain service operations from November 17 on the Nilackal-Pampa-Nilackal corridor for Sabarimala pilgrims.
The 31 seats in the buses have been refurbished for making long-distance travel comfortable for passengers. Though the BEV can attain a speed of 120 km per hour, the speed will be restricted to 80 km per hour. With one charging, which will need three to four hours, the buses can run up to 300 km. The Mumbai-based Maha Voyage LLP had provided the buses by quoting the lowest at ₹ 43.20 per km.
Source – The Hindu, Video – The Big Daddy.
