An eight-hour single duty will be enforced for drivers operating long-distance 500 super-class services at night by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) from August 17 onwards as part of ensuring the safety of commuters and bus crew.
The move comes in the wake of the finding that the driver Abdul Azees (47) was at the wheel for 9.15 hours of the super express that collided with a container lorry near the Ithikkara bridge at Kottiyam on Monday. T.P. Subash, the conductor of the bus that was coming from Sulthan Bathery, and the lorry driver were also killed.
For enforcing single duty for drivers that includes seven hours at the wheel, the KSRTC has decided to go for crew change that was in place in the Thrissur, Palakkad and Sulthan Bathery depots till 1994 and to have driver-cum-conductor in these 500 schedules that operate long-distance between sunset and sunrise.
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“We will commence single duty for drivers in the 500 schedules from August 17 and enforce it fully from September 1 so that no driver at the wheel after eight hours,” KSRTC Chairman and Managing Director Tomin J. Thachankary told a press conference here on Tuesday.
Already, the KSRTC has trained 720 drivers as conductors. Among them, some will be enough for issuing tickets in the 130 buses operating super-class services. The remaining 370 drivers will be trained to secure the conductor badge from the Motor Vehicles Department.
The KSRTC CMD said DTOs/ATOs had been asked to take steps to create facilities at the halt stations for the bus crew to take rest. As many as 35% of the conductors on the rolls are women and creating facilities for them at the halt stations was a challenge. For the time being, single duty would not be enforced for the conductors.
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The KSRTC fleet was involved in 1,712 accidents that claimed 202 lives in 2017 and 94 died in 749 accidents that had occurred so far this year.
Mr. Thachankary said the Kottiyam accident was an eye opener.