The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation is set to reinforce its presence in the city and suburbs by adding an additional fleet of 30 buses to its Thiru-Kochi series, thanks to the new bus terminal that is fast nearing completion at Thevara.
An official in the KSRTC Zonal Office, Ernakulam, told The Hindu that the proposal had already received in-principle approval from the top management and was now awaiting the final nod. “The fleet expansion plans, taken up on a priority basis, is expected to materialise with the opening of our new bus yard in Thevara,” they said.
At present, the Thiru-Kochi series is being operated with a fleet of 60 buses, with each bus operating an average of four services a day. Of this, 20 buses operate services connecting the Goshree islands while the remaining 40 have been attached to the Ernakulam depot.
With the induction of a new fleet, the corporation expects to operate 70 more services on moffusil-ordinary permits. This is expected to give a boost to the cash-strapped public sector undertaking’s daily average collections from the Thiru-Kochi services now pegged at about Rs. 2 lakh. “With the opening of the new yard, the entire fleet under the brand including those kept in the dock for maintenance purposes, will be shifted from the Ernakulam main depot to here’’, the official added.
Meanwhile, works on the KSRTC bus yard, coming up on a 3-acre property owned by the Corporation near the boat yard in Thevara is in the final stages and would complete within a couple of months. On completion, it will embrace facilities for bus parking, a three-way garage for maintenance and an office complex.
The project hit a blockade a few months ago owing to uncertainty over the shifting of power supply lines over the project site. However, the department has now received the fund for carrying out the work and the project is scheduled for completion within two months from now.
EOM/hiran
