Minister seeks report on stranded E-buses

Kochi: Transport minister A. K. Saseendran has sought a report from the KSRTC management over the incident in which two air-conditioned battery electric buses got stranded mid-way during the inaugural day of deployment of the environment-friendly buses in the Thiruvananthapuram Ernakulam section.

Though five E-buses started journey from Thiruvananthapuram Central bus station to Ernakulam on Monday morning, the battery charge of one bus died down when it reached X-ray Junction (Cherthala) and another at Vytilla, resulting in passenger protest.

KSRTC Managing Director M.P. Dinesh directed the Executive Director (Vigilance) to probe into the issue and submit a report on whether there was any fault on part of the technical wing of the corporation.

"After recharging, the electric buses will run a distance of 250 km. The buses were successfully deployed in the Pamba-Nilackal section during the last Sabarimala season. Also during the trial run conducted in the Thiruvananthapuram-Aluva section, nearly 20 per cent charge was left when the bus reached the destination. All this prompted the management to deploy the services," sources said.

The probe will cover whether the inexperience of the company drivers resulted in the scenario. "There was no issue with the remaining six services," they said.

Meanwhile, all eight E-buses operated smoothly on Tuesday with the KSRTC readying charging facility at Ernakulam depot and Harippad.

Also, the KSRTC has reached a final agreement with the KSEB over setting up of five e-bus charging facility at Thevara depot by setting up a new transformer there at a cost of Rs 17 lakh.