Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) may get 100 out of the 250 electric buses that Kerala will be allotted under the Centre’s FAME-2 scheme, ushering in a new era in e-mobility in Ernakulam district.
The remaining 150 e-buses are likely to be deployed in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode. “The allotment of 100 e-buses will help KMRL considerably augment last-mile connectivity from 22 stations in the Kochi metro’s 25-km-long Aluva-Pettah corridor. The buses are expected to be given to us as wet lease and will be run by drivers recruited by the firm that leases out the vehicles. Commuters will be able to opt for travel using pre-paid cards or pay the fare to the driver. The buses will not have conductors, as they will operate point-to-point services from metro stations to suburban towns,” KMRL sources said.
The State government will take a final call on procuring the buses from the Centre and allotting them to various cities, it is learnt.
KMRL now operates two electric buses from the Aluva metro station to the international airport. The buses were among 10 such vehicles that the KSRTC took on wet lease from a firm in 2019. The remaining eight buses, including those that operated on the Thiruvananthapuram-Kochi route, are now idling with the KSRTC following low patronage for public transport in the COVID-19 situation. Although the metro agency was keen to rope them in for operating feeder services, the KSRTC is readying plans to revamp its fleet.
With the KSRTC not able to operate the e-buses that were wet-leased in a feasible manner, the agency might opt for dry lease. “They were wet-leased for a 25-year period at a fixed rate of ₹77 per km per bus. But they were not getting more than ₹40 per km from ticket fare. We might opt for dry lease, under which KSRTC drivers will steer them. Forgoing the services of drivers provided by the bus manufacturer will lessen the operational expense by around ₹7 per km,” said a senior KSRTC official.
It can be further brought down if the Centre gives a subsidy of ₹6 per km, under the FAME-2 scheme, and viability gap funding is availed from Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).
The option of lessening the per-km rate and increasing it every few years too is being looked into, since the KSRTC is not at all in a position to pay ₹77 per km now.
Moreover, efforts are under way to ready a fast-charging station in each district, so that e-buses can operate on the Thiruvananthapuram-Palakkad route, without running out of charge, the official said.
