Chairman claims amalgamation of Mysuru KSRTC City-Sub-Urban Divisions reduced losses
Mysore/Mysuru: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will soon purchase ‘Ambaari Utsav’ luxury category buses to give an ‘aircraft-feeling’ to travellers. In addition, 50 electric buses have started arriving from Hyderabad in phases, said KSRTC Chairman M. Chandrappa.
Speaking to reporters on Monday after a meeting with the Mysuru Divisional KSRTC officials at the Bannimantap Bus Depot, Chandrappa said that the KSRTC has come in for public appreciation as it has introduced many luxury buses for ease of travel.
“Buses like Ambaari, Club Class sleepers and Airavata are the most preferred mode of transport and people are opting for a risk-free and comfortable travel in KSRTC luxury buses than in other modes of transport,” he said.
“Very soon, the KSRTC will introduce ‘Ambaari Utsav’ buses that will be super luxurious and will provide a special travelling experience. We will start the services of 20 such buses to different destinations,” he added.
The KSRTC is procuring over 700 new buses, including Sarige and luxury variants and the buses will be distributed to Mysuru Division also as per its schedules and daily trips. “550 Sarige buses, 50 electric buses, 40 non-AC sleeper, 20 Ambaari Utsav, 50 city vehicles for intra-city service, 4 13.5-metre-long AC sleeper buses and four 13.4-metre-long non-AC sleeper buses are being procured,” he said.
“There are grand plans to purchase 350 electric buses in the future and many old and fuel-guzzling buses will be replaced. Over 3,000 buses will be sent to the scrapyard and all those buses that have travelled 9 lakh kilometres will qualify as scrap buses. The COVID pandemic prevented KSRTC from purchasing new buses in the last two years and we were forced to use the buses that have already run 9 lakh kilometres. Now we will scrap all those buses,” he disclosed.
Once the charging stations are completed and the remaining electric buses arrive from Hyderabad, they will be operated between Bengaluru-Madikeri and Bengaluru-Virajpet. The KSRTC is already operating the service in the Mysuru-Bengaluru route which is quite popular. Other destinations that are targeted are Chikkamagalur, Davanagere, Madikeri, Virajpet and Shivamogga, he added.
The Mysuru division has proposed to operate ‘AC Ambaari Dream Class’ buses from Mysuru to Tirupati, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mantralaya and Ernakulam. “Also, ten non-AC sleeper buses will be operated by the Mysuru division on the routes including Bengaluru-Mysuru-Kozhikode, Mysuru-Kundapura, Mysuru-Bengaluru-Gokarna, Mysuru-Udupi and Mysuru-Belagavi.
On the amalgamation of the Mysuru Rural and Mysuru Sub-Urban KSRTC Divisions, Chandrappa said that the amalgamation has reduced losses. “In 2020-21, the Mysuru Division suffered a loss of Rs. 161 crore, in 2021-22, it was Rs. 156 crore loss. After the two Divisions were merged, in 2022-2023, the losses came down by Rs. 101 crore,” he claimed and said that gradually, the Mysuru Division will make profits.
The Mysuru Division has 1,072 buses and over 7,854 trips are operated daily across the State, catering to over 4 lakh passengers. KSRTC Divisional Controller Ashok Kumar and senior officials of the Division were present.
This post was published on January 25, 2023 7:51 pm