Pink Lady' on Kerala streets soon

Kochi: In a bid to provide safe and secure journey to women passengers, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) would roll out ‘Pink Lady’ services with women conductors from New Year onwards. “The buses with pink theme are getting ready at the Central workshop and will be launched in Thiruvananthapuram. The buses will ply in the city during peak hours to facilitate a hassle-free travel for women. If successful, the same will be introduced in Kochi too,” said a senior KSRTC official.

The initiative was taken following success of the ‘Sabari’ buses, which were designed and themed after nature. “We want the ‘Ladies Only’ services to spread the gender sensitization message. The buses will be of ordinary class and will be run during the peak hours on demand routes within the Thiruvananthapuram city initially,” the officer said. “Women conductors will be deployed in the buses. We were looking for a lady driver, but failed to find one," he said.

Meanwhile, the corporation is mulling to reschedule its AC low-floor city services in Kochi as majority of the services are currently being operated in a loss. “We’re planning to reschedule the low-floor AC services to make them profitable ones. Currently the services are all within city limits. They will be rescheduled and will be plied in inter-district destinations such as Thodupuzha, Alapuzha, Thrissur and Nedumbassery,” a senior officer said. The commuter patronage in the buses have further affected from Thursday last when the ticket charges were hiked by six per cent to cover an increase in central service tax.