'Super bus, but those who board once won't board again; KSRTC faces loss of around half a lakh rupees'

THRISSUR: Former MLA Anil Akkara has shared his experience of travelling on a KSRTC Volvo bus and questioned the slow speed of the long-distance service operating to Bengaluru. He said the bus offered excellent facilities but took nearly nine hours to travel from Thiruvananthapuram to Thrissur.

Akkara said that when he enquired why so few passengers were travelling on such a good bus, he received a serious response. According to him, the bus cannot maintain good speed on four-lane roads because its speed governor has not been properly adjusted. He raised the issue in a Facebook post and said the problem needs to be examined by the KSRTC management.

Full text of Anil Akkara's Facebook post

Super bus, but where are the passengers? On the 6th of this month, I travelled from Thiruvananthapuram to Thrissur on a KSRTC Volvo bus. It is a super bus, with excellent facilities and a good travel experience. But there was one thing I could not understand. I boarded the bus at 3 pm from Thiruvananthapuram and got down at Thrissur around 12 midnight. It was a journey of nearly nine hours!

This is a service that goes to Bengaluru. If it travels at this speed, it would reach Bengaluru only by afternoon! Another striking thing was that there were fewer than 10 passengers on the bus, including me. When I enquired why people were not travelling on such an excellent bus, the response I received was very serious.

“Those who travel on this bus once will not travel on it again. While other buses travel at good speeds on four-lane roads, this bus cannot travel fast because its speed governor has not been properly adjusted.”

If this is true, the problem is not with the passengers but with the service management. When I made a rough calculation, I felt that KSRTC could be losing at least Rs 50,000 in revenue every day from a single bus by operating the service this way. There is no point in simply buying good buses. Passengers must be provided with a service that is punctual and fast. KSRTC should conduct a detailed study of long-distance services, including Volvo buses, covering travel time, speed restrictions, passenger numbers, revenue and expenses.

Instead of blaming loss-making services, steps should be taken to identify why they are making losses and find ways to make them profitable. Good buses, good service, a proper schedule, more passengers and more revenue- these are essential if KSRTC is to become profitable. Scientific studies and urgent intervention are needed on such issues.