KSRTC inducts 18 refurbished buses, transport minister bats for fare hike

Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) inducted 18 refurbished buses into its fleet during its 63rd Foundation Day on Wednesday. 

Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy flagged off three refurbished Airavat Club Class and 15 Karnataka Sarige buses that had run for 15 lakh kilometres each. The makeover will enable the buses to run for another 4 lakh kilometres. 

While the KSRTC has been refurbishing old ordinary buses, it's also giving a makeover to premium buses that are 10-11 years old. 

The KSRTC has so far refurbished 1,150 buses (806 in two regional workshops and 344 in 16 divisions). 

A senior KSRTC official said the Airavat Club Class buses would be operated on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru and Mysuru-Mangaluru routes, while the Karnataka Sarige buses would ply to Chikkaballapur, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan and Mandya. 

Reddy said Karnataka's four Road Transport Corporations (RTCs) had so far inducted 3,417 new buses out of the 5,800 new vehicles promised by the state government. 

The KSRTC now has 8,849 buses and operates 8,068 schedules daily, carrying 34.92 lakh passengers. 

Reddy batted for a regular revision in bus fares in accordance with crude oil prices. 

The RTCs last revised their bus fares in February 2020. 

The Shakti scheme, which provides free bus travel for women domiciled in Karnataka, has helped the four RTCs increase daily trips from 1,58,909 to 1,72,333. Women now account for 58.12% of the passengers. 

The KSRTC hosted various events at the Bengaluru (Central) division (depot 2) to mark its founding in 1961. 

It distributed Rs 1 crore each to the dependents of three employees who died on duty or off it. In addition, under the Employee Family Welfare Scheme, it distributed Rs 10 lakh each to the families of 37 more employees who passed away recently. 

The KSRTC presented a cash award of Rs 2 lakh to the Pavagada depot and Rs 10,000 to the depot manager, Hanumantharaya E, for ensuring zero accidents in the last 22 months. 

The interiors of an Airavat Club Class bus.

While the KSRTC has recruited 152 dependents of deceased employees on compassionate grounds, the four RTCs have recruited 1,883 drivers-cum-conductors and technical assistants. Another 6,500 vacancies will be filled soon.