Kerala Urban Road Transport Corporation profits from weekends

Kochi: Don’t be surprised if you find low-floor AC buses of the Kerala Urban Road Transport Corporation more frequently on Saturdays and Mondays on long-haul routes like Ernakulam-Thiruvananthapuram. The KURTC management has asked unit officers to deploy maximum buses on these two days, even running spare buses, to cater to the high passenger demand, while cancelling loss-making trips during non-peak hours on other days.

“The attempt is part of the policy to operate buses based on demand and to cut off loss-making services. We found the maximum passenger requirement on these two days, and a special direction has been given to concerned officers,” said Antony Chacko, managing director. On Saturday, they pressed into service 433 of the 615 low-floor buses besides 50 spares. “Only 133 buses, including AC and non-AC, were in the dockyard for maintenance instead of the usual 160-170. We aim to cut the figures further in the coming days,” the officer said.

The additional services are being operated even using the low-floor buses on inter-district routes. “On Saturdays, we’ll deploy the short-distance services ending early on routes like Ernakulam-Thiruvananthapuram during night. The buses will reach Monday morning and redeployed on their original routes,” a KURTC officer at the Thevara depot said.

A total of 30 AC buses and three non-AC buses operate on inter-district routes from here, raking in '4.20-'4.30 lakh a day. “We deploy buses ending service early in the Ernakulam-Thiruvananthapuram section on Saturdays when the collection touches '6 lakh mark,” he said. Meanwhile, the authorities admitted the high number of buses in the dockyard at any given time over lack of spare parts is a worry.