The last batch of 117 of the 400 low-floor buses procured with financial assistance of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) will join the fleet of the Kerala Urban Road Transport Corporation (KURTC) soon.
Of the 117 air-conditioned low-floor buses, 44 have reached the capital already and 16 are in the yard. With 117 buses joining the fleet after completing the registration formalities with the Motor Vehicles Department, the number of buses purchased under the JNNURM will go up to 720.
The KURTC will approach the government for exemption for the alterations made in the fabrication of the body to register the buses. The government has to issue orders for each bus as the MVD on its own cannot grant exemption for the alterations made.
Á top official of the transport utility told that 80 of the 117 buses will be used to operate chain services from Nilackal to Pampa during the forthcoming Mandalam-Makaravilakku season.
“The low-floor buses were popular among Ayyappa devotees during the last pilgrimage season. Hence, we have decided to deploy these 80 brand new buses for the chain services from Pampa to Nilackal,” he added.
The 283 buses, including 110 air-conditioned, that had joined the fleet since January 2015 had been used by the KURTC, the special purpose vehicle floated under the KSRTC, to extend the services to 12 districts. Since 2009, as many as 320 low-floor buses are plying in the capital and Kochi.
The 400 buses were purchased from Volvo, Ashok Leyland, and Tata. The cost is shared on an 80:20 basis between the Centre and the State. The total cost is Rs.213 crore — Rs.193 crore for buses and Rs.20 crore for ancillary facilities. The KURTC runs over 1.20 lakh km on an average daily and gets on an average Rs.45.60 lakh from these low-floor buses that are highly popular among the commuters.
