KSRTC buses see huge rush, fully booked

Kochi: The demand for multi-axle inter-state KSRTC services went up after three passengers of a private luxury bus were bashed up on Sunday.

All the 10 buses of the class operated by the RTC are fully booked this week though normally tickets would be available on week days,

“The multi-axle buses to Bengaluru are fully booked all these days,” said a senior official at the control room in Thiruvananthapuram. Four out of the total 10 multi-axle buses to Bengaluru are being operated from headquarters. Normally, there is high demand for buses to Bengaluru on Sundays and Mon-days while buses from Bengaluru to various destinations in the state are heavily booked on Fridays and Saturdays.

“The buses to various destinations from Bengaluru are fully booked on all these days till Wednesday. A trend is noticeable where our buses running through Salem route, used by private bus operators, are having high demand even for weeks ahead, including weekdays. Already 27 to 30 seats out of a total 48 of the buses were booked for journeys on first and second week of May,” said a booking official at Peeniya reservation counter of the corporation.

This even as seats are available on private luxury buses.

However, an official at at the counter in Ernakulam said a trend of switching over from private luxury buses to KSRTC can be known only after a couple of weeks.

“A good portion of seats of the services now are booked by people returning after the festive season much in advance. The picture will be clear in the next couple of weeks,” he said.

Meanwhile, many complained that the booking site of the corporation is not passenger-friendly despite the corporation recently changing web addresses and adding more features.