'Priyadarshini': KSRTC City Fast buses disrupt free travel scheme for Kerala women commuters

Thiruvananthapuram: While certain routes boast a surplus of ordinary buses, others are dominated exclusively by City Fast services. Consequently, KSRTC has left women passengers, who expected free travel under the state's flagship scheme, highly disappointed across various locations in the city. Complaints have emerged that even major routes within the Minister's own constituency lack a sufficient number of ordinary buses. A vast majority of the 384 City Fast buses currently operate out of the main City Depot.

Previously, high-traffic urban routes were deliberately assigned to City Fast buses to maximise revenue. However, when this policy was shifted to introduce the free travel scheme, KSRTC officials failed to realign the fleet properly, creating a major hiccup in the government's dream project. Following widespread passenger complaints, the redeployment of city buses has finally commenced. As a first step, 30 electric buses from the City Depot were rearranged on Tuesday.

To resolve the grievances, several City Fast buses are being converted into ordinary services. Nevertheless, the high volume of City Fasts on multiple routes remains a major challenge. Currently, there is a severe shortage of ordinary buses on the Vellayambalam–Vattiyoorkavu–Vellanad route, whereas the route from the city to Peroorkada has a surplus of buses.

Ordinary buses on the Peyad–Kattakada route currently originate from Thampanoor. Commuters suggest that extending these services to East Fort would benefit a larger number of women passengers.

Conversely, the East Fort–Ooruttambalam–Kattakada sector is heavily dominated by City Fast buses departing from East Fort, while ordinary buses on this route run from Thampanoor. Passengers have also reported a scarcity of ordinary services on the East Fort–Neyyattinkara (via Balaramapuram) and Balaramapuram–Mangalathukonam–Vizhinjam routes.

Similar complaints regarding a lack of buses have been raised for the Vellayani–Kakkamoola route. The frequency of 'Priyadarshini' buses is notably low on the Malayam–Malayinkeezhu, Nemom–Machel, and East Fort–Veli routes. Furthermore, the Peyad–Vellanad, Thiruvallam–Karumam and East Fort–Attukal–Maruthoorkadavu sectors are also starving for ordinary services.

Meanwhile, the Ooruttambalam–Kalliyoor sector continues to see an excess of City Fast buses. This crisis stems from an arbitrary increase in City Fast services toward the end of the previous ministry's tenure, following a directive to depots to maximise revenue without any proper guidelines. Ironically, despite claims that City Fast buses have fewer stops, they continue to halt at every stop during transit.