Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is building a new bus depot – Depot No. 3 - here for operating buses between Mysore and Bangalore as an attempt to meet the rising demand for services.
The frequency of operations between the cities is expected to go up on completion of the new facility.
Already, the Depot No. 3 has started functioning within the available space between Depot No. 1 and Depot No. 2 on the premises of the KSRTC complex at Bannimantap here. The facilities, including civil structures, at Depot No. 3 are coming up at a cost of Rs. 5.5 crore and the independent facility is expected to be ready by October this year.
500 daily tripsAt present, the KSRTC Mysore rural division operates over 500 trips, excluding the trips from the Bangalore division, between Mysore and Bangalore.
The combined daily trips would be around 700, according to KSRTC authorities.
“The demand for buses between Mysore and Bangalore goes up during weekends and holidays. We, therefore, thought of having an independent depot to operate sufficient number of buses to meet the rising demand,” said B.V. Srinivas, Divisional Controller, KSRTC, Mysore.
Speaking to The Hindu , Mr. Srinivas said buses for operations between Mysore and Bangalore were presently sourced from Depot No. 1 and Depot No. 2.
A depot for handling services exclusively between the cities was considered necessary as it would have a fleet of buses under its control, he explained.
Mr. Srinivas said the work on the new depot being built at a cost of Rs 5.5 crore has commenced and the facility can handle 120 buses of various types. “This depot is going to be the biggest in the division,” he said.
According to Mr. Srinivas, 80 trips of no-stop buses; 80 trips of Rajahamsa services; 20 trips of Volvo services; four trips of Multi-axel Volvo services and 400 trips of Sarige services (service buses with halts at Mandya and other places en route) are being operated daily between Mysore and Bangalore.
The Mysore rural KSRTC division has a fleet of 700 buses, including 80 Volvo buses, 60 Rajahamsa, four multi-axle Volvo buses and the remaining Sarige (Express) buses.
Mr. Srinivas said the new depot is expected to get brand new buses upon its completion. “This will help us in increasing the frequency of services,” he said.
Already, the number of trips had been increased and the rush of commuters is high on Sundays.
Because of the tourist season last month, the frequency of operations was more to cater to needs of tourists coming from Bangalore, he added.
He said 40 new Sarige buses had been added to the existing fleet of the division recently with the Central office allocating buses to the division for augmenting its services, including inter-State operations.
