The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will operate services for intercity and inter-district travellers and for students appearing for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) scheduled for September 13.
The move comes amidst Railway Board’s decision to cancel Jan Shatabdi Expresses running in Thiruvananthapuram Central-Kozhikode and Kannur sectors and Thiruvananthapuram Central Ernakulam Venad Express specials from Saturday.
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BonD services
The KSRTC has given instructions to all unit officers to provide Buses on Demand (BonD) services to students appearing for NEET and parents accompanying them if they book in advance. A minimum of 40 passengers is needed for the BonD services. In addition, the KSRTC will operate additional services from all the key depots in the State to the venues of NEET examination scheduled from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on September 13, in view of the travel restrictions due to pandemic.
Giving much solace to the office-goers and daily commuters, the KSRTC will operate non-stop multi-axle air-conditioned buses idling in its fleet in the Thiruvananthapuram-Ernakulam-Thiruvanahapuram and Ernakulam-Kozhikode-Ernakulam sectors in the morning and evening.
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In the Kasaragod-Kannnur-Kasaragod, Kannur-Ernakulam-Kannur and Kasaragod-Thrissur-Kasaragod sectors, Super Deluxe and Super Fast will be deployed for morning and evening services. The services will begin on Friday and will be available from Monday to Friday, a top KSRTC Operations wing official told The Hindu .
The services from Thiruvananthapuram will begin at 5.30 a.m. to reach Ernakulam at 9.30 a.m. In the return direction, the service will begin at 6 p.m. from Ernakulam to reach the capital at 10 p.m. The service from Kozhikode will begin at 6 a.m. to reach Ernakulam at 9.50 a.m. and the return service will be at 6 p.m from Ernakulam so that the service will end in Kozhikode at 9.50 p.m.
The services to Kasaragod and Thrissur will be on similar timings. Advance online reservation facility is available for the commuters and the KSRTC hopes to cash in on Railways’ decision to withdraw intercity trains and increase the revenue hit by the pandemic.
Encouraged by the good response to the morning and evening BonD services, the KSRTC management has given a free hand to the unit officers to commence the BonD services. These end-to-end non-stop services has come in handy for office-goers and daily commuters. The KSRTC has even plans to operate BonD services in the Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil sector soon.