Kochi: The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) would deploy 10 electric buses in the Thiruvananthapuram-Ernakulam section and also in certain city routes in both the cities from Monday.
The transport department last week gave nod for operating the electric buses on a wet-lease basis.
“The fare will be same as that of the Chill buses,”said a senior KSRTC official. “We’ll operate the buses in the Thiruvananthapuram-Ernakulam section in the morning and evening and deploy them in short routes in between. Permanent schedules will be fixed after operating them on an experimental basis for a week.”
Mumbai-based ‘Maha-voyage’ would operate the 10 air-conditioned battery-powered buses, having a length of nine metres, for which the corporation will pay Rs 43.20 per km. The fleet-owner will provide the driver and also meet maintenance expenses while the corporation needs to provide electricity.
“The trial run of the buses in the Pamba-Nilackal route was successful," the official said. “Battery charging facilities are currently available at Pappanamcode, Haripad and Ernakulam. We're looking for more such facility at places like Alapuzha.”
The buses will have 33 seats and can run 300 kms in a single charging. It will take four hours for normal charging and one-and- half hours for fast charging. Though the top speed is 120 kmph, the same will be restricted to 80 kmph.
Meanwhile, the 'Chill' buses which have limited stops will now halt at all stoppages that are allotted for Super Fast services. "An order in this regard has been issued,” the official said.
