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-   -   Intercity Buses operated by various private travels and STUs (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/commercial-vehicles/73526-intercity-buses-operated-various-private-travels-stus-27.html)

I second Binai here. KeSRTC is decently punctual. Actually they don't really care if someone misses the bus because of a screw-up on their side. But they do wait for 10 or 15 minutes.

KaSRTC, on the other hand, however hitech they are, are yet to learn how to read a simple analog watch! This is particularly true for their non-Volvo/Merc services! Recently I took an airbus from BLR. Some seats were empty and the conductor was literally sieving the roads for people! To start with the scheduled running time was one and a half hour longer than other buses in the same route. Plus they were three to four hours late due to this drag along the way.

Seems KeSRTC started to use JNNRUM buses for inter city operation in Kerala. Saw an a/c low floor volvo with Ekm board in Kayamkulam and a non a/c leyland low floor with Tvm board at Klm.

Okay, then what I had seen was not an exception.

The new AL Veera city buses from Ernakulam are used as 'Fast passenger' vehicles on a regular basis. I didn't understand the whole thing. One Veera I saw was running as FP from Kottayam to Muvattupuzha. The driver was driving it flat on a bad stretch of road. He was clearly having fun... at Keralites' expense!

Seems a significant number of JNNURm buses are running in TVM_EKM route as FPs. Already seen JNK57 and JNK128 within half an hour in Kollam. Is it because ksrtc is incurring loses as those buses are used as citu service?

How can they incur loss even when central government footed the bill? If still they manage to screw it up, then there is no hope whatsoever that they will ever turn around. Moreover I don't think this practice complies with the terms under which the fund was allotted neither in letter or in spirit.

It is learnt that today there was some PSC exam in Ernakulam. So KSRTC is cleverly using JNK & JNT buses on special permits for the benefits of the participants.

TNSTC is running its JNnurm buses for Mofussil routes for more than 1 year.
Even they are not too curious to use JNnurm logo unlike other STU's. They are normally small or even omitted. The biggest fun was CM's photo(Karunanithi at time) was in the bus launch and it was made to tell public that state Govt only purchased those buses!

The buses you saw were running as specials for a PSC test. The Trivandrum district PSC test saw hell lot of applicants - and hence the exam centres are spread over the districts of TVM, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Ernakulam. Hence KSRTC is using what ever bus they are running as specials.

THEY DON'T. I am in touch with the official concerned with operation of JnNURM buses in Kochi - they do not run them as "FP" anywhere. The run you saw was probably the run from Central Works to the depot where it was allotted. The buses are brought from Central Works after registration to the depot as an FP/SF.

Central government funded part of the cost of the bus - but they did not/do not fund the day to day expense of the bus.

THEY DO.

I later saw this bus while seeing somebody off on an ERS bus from Ettumanoor KSRTC bus station. This bus entered - people boarded the bus and he took off - from the station. That is why I know the route since the name boards were in place. Tickets were also being issued. It was not a brand new one. How much more specific can I be?

Someone from one of the shops confirmed that this is not so rare a sight.

I don't know what that official is saying, but I can make out a bus on service and one which is being shifted between depots.

BTW, we had to wait for forty minutes for an ERS bus when KeSRTC openly claims ten minutes maximum gap between buses to ERS. The officer in the bus station refused to answer queries from a few fellow passengers because he found something interesting to read in Mathrubhoomi! Despite repeated requests he never raised his head. I was luckier in that he took a brief break from his reading and said he doesn't have a clue!

If a percentage of the principal is waived off, I would imagine that the break even point reduces proportionately. That in real life means, lesser pressure on day to day operations with regards to profitability. At least normal businesses run this way. One can never second guess KeSRTC. :)

There is a massive disproportionality in the numbers of ST buses in that route compared to the privates. Most buses from KTM depot are running either in the Pala-Thodupuzha-Erattupetta route. up to Kumily or long distance FP's SFP's etc.. EKM depot also doesn't send a lot of buses to KTM. Mostly we have to depend on SF or FP services from other far away depots that run in this route or on the privates (which are there every 5-10 mins). I don't know why this abnormality is there. :deadhorse

@smashnerd

BTW, after 40 minutes we got fed up and left that place. There is some value for our time as well right? Within a couple of minutes we found a private operator's bus. I don't know when the next bus came.

Erattupetta was adopted by KeSRTC due to some reason I am yet to understand. I think there are more buses to Erattupetta than Ernakulam.

The Kumily coverage improved only recently. When they nationalized it in 1997-1998, life was hell on that route. Over a month or so, one among the best routes became a nightmare to travel across. Regular long distance travelers, which included one of my family members, had a horrid time. Thankfully it has improved from the last few years.

When a bus is brought from the Central works to the depot, they do carry passengers. They have a proper board in place, and tickets are issued. They charge FP/SFP fares depending on the distance to the new depot and the route taken. Volvo buses come with the "destination" being displayed on the LED scroll - they charge the Mofussil Volvo fare i.e., Rs. 1.10 per km.

AND, these Leyland have been resting.. er! Rusting.. at the dealer yard for over three months now - so its not surprising that the bus did not look new.

Out of curiosity, can you please describe how can you make out a bus on service and one which is being shifted to depot?? Its very very difficult to do so in KeSRTC, because they always carry passengers.

Can you please explain how this happens? The Central government funding was only 30% for the buses in Kochi - for a Volvo, the central share works out to only about 21 Lakhs - KeSRTC spent a good amount of money from their own pocket. (This is considering an OTR of 70 lakhs for the bus).

KeSRTC targets only the operational expense with regards to profitability in their calculations.

@ Binaiks

I saw the same bus twice and that is why I assume that it is in operation and not under shifting.

Also if the bus is being shifted to the depot, why is it being shifted to Muvattupuzha? Perhaps it is a little too far from Ernakulam to run the city buses.

Regarding profitability, I had kept the ALs in mind. I was thinking it was 40%. A 30% off on the AL should make it a lot more easier, I would have thought. Its often the pay back of the principal (which often adds up when we include the interest) that all struggle with. If the target is just operational profit and that also is under doubt, what can I say?

Either way, a 30% funding makes life only easier and not worse off. It is that simple.

The AL non-AC LFs are based in all depots across Ernakulam District. These buses make no money when run on city routes, and hence are being run on suburban routes. Their main routes are Ankamaly-Ernakulam, Muvattupuzha-Fort Kochi, Koothattukulam-Ernakulam, Perumbavur-Ernakulam, etc.

Routes started recently however run now where near the city - some such routes are Neriyamangalam-MVPA, Perumbavur-Puthencruz-Aroor, etc.

If the buses are being run outside Ernakulam district, its a violation of funding norms. KeSRTC can be taken to task for that.

That's the problem with KeSRTC. Why are they charging higher for these non a/c LE buses. These buses are no way costly to maintain than normal bus.
The previous govt. here, did not want the Central Govt. funded "JnNURM" to be a run away success. Hence they fixed higher charge for these buses and simultaneously rolled out large number of conventional buses called "Thiru Kochi". Consequently, due to higher fare, the non a/c LE bus in city routes was in loss. Meanwhile their "thiru kochi" got all the attention & collection. Intrestingly these non a/c lowfloor buses would have earned Ksrtc more EPKM (earnings per Kms) if run at normal rates, as they have more capacity (seating+standing) than the conventional buses.

The very purpose of improving the urban public transport in the city was spoiled. If Ksrtc had run these non a/c lowfloor buses at the oridinary rates, the public in the city would have preferred them more than the red killers (private buses)! Moreover school children, women, elderly people etc would have benifitted substantially.

When oridinary people in Coimbatore, Madurai, Indore, Mysore, Jalgon, Jaipur etc get to travel in these type buses, Cochin is deprieved of it...simply due to the visionless political class.

@binaiks...i doubt that the share of central govt is 60% or more (not sure). Otherwise can't imagine KeSRTC/Kerala Govt. going to buy those Volvo Lowfloors!