After cancelling its premier services for three consecutive days owing to landslips on Shiradi Ghat and poor condition of roads on Sampaje Ghat, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has found a “new” route to operate buses from Mangaluru to Bengaluru. The buses from Mangaluru go via Karkala, Kudremukh, Kottigehara, Mudigere, and Hassan, and reach Bengaluru. On Friday, the corporation operated four buses on this route.
The KSRTC usually operate buses from Mangaluru to Bengaluru via the Shiradi Ghat route, which is 361 km. The new route will see buses plying an additional 77 km. However, the corporation has decided not to increase fare.
“After we cancelled operations on other routes, we explored the possibilities of operating premier buses, including multi-axle buses, on this new route. After the trial run on Thursday, we operated four trips on Friday and all the buses were almost full. Passengers were happy with our service. The first bus which left at 8.30 a.m. on Thursday reached Bengaluru around 6 p.m.,” said Deepak Kumar M., Divisional Controller of the KSRTC in Mangaluru Division. He said the return journey from Bengaluru to Mangaluru would also be operational during day time.
No night services will be operated on this route. “Mobile network is not available on some of the stretches, so we felt that night operations are not feasible,” he added.
The prevailing extreme weather has hit KSRTC services: 8,415 online bookings have been cancelled from August 9 to 17, and a total of ₹52.78 lakh refunded to passengers.
