Thanks to speed governor, many RTC buses run late

Thiruvananthapuram: Regular long distance KSRTC commuters have come up with the complaint that a normal trip from the central Thampanoor depot to Ernakulam takes about six-and-a-half hours to seven hours now. When the running time should be five hours, it’s taking longer ever since speed governors were installed, they say.

Sixty-three-year-old Mohan John, a businessman based in the capital city relies on KSRTC services for his frequent trips across the state every week. He said he noticed that there had been two instances in a week when services towards Ernakulam got unduly delayed.

“RSK 640 Super Fast belonging to the Alappuzha depot which left Thampanoor at 11:45 am was supposed to reach Ernakulam at 4:30 pm, but rolled in only by 6:30 pm. Initially, I thought it was an isolated incident, but on inquiry it was found that since the installation of speed governors, a majority of KSRTC buses are running late”, said Mohan John.

However K.T.Irshad, executive director (operations) of KSRTC maintained that different types of buses had separate timings.

“Normally a fast passenger takes six hours and 10 minutes to reach Ernakulam as it halts at every bus stop. But a Super Fast will reach Ernakulam in five hours. Since the installation of speed governors, a bus can travel only at 65 km per hour and not more than that”, he said.