The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) operated 1,428 intra-district ordinary services on Thursday despite suffering operational losses on Wednesday, the maiden day of resuming services after a 54-day break due to the lockdown, due to poor patronage.
Over 300 private buses also operated services on Thursday in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Ernakulam and other districts giving relief to passengers. More passengers were seen at bus stops and bus stations in the morning and evening peak hours.
Lack of vacant seats
Passengers have raised complaints of lack of vacant seats when the buses reach stops in between the originating and destination stations.
Rain and the attack on Wednesday night on five private buses that ventured into the road in Kozhikode played spoilsport. Unmindful of the poor patronage, the KSRTC operated services.
In the Thiruvananthapuram zone comprising the capital district, Kollam and Pathanamthitta, 23 more services were operated, following demands from various quarters. The total number of services in the zone was 658.
The State-owned fleet, official sources said, operated the 1,428 services though it suffered ₹9.01 running loss per km on Wednesday when it operated 1,388 services. Against the 5.5 lakh km that was to be covered daily, the 1,319 buses deployed were able to cover only 2,12,310 km. The number of passengers ferried was 1,74, 299.
KSRTC officials said the bus services on Wednesday fetched only ₹35,32,465 with the Thiruvananthapuram zone netting ₹16 lakh, Ernakulam zone ₹12.75 lakh and Kozhikode zone ₹6 lakh. The earning per km was ₹16.64, the earning per bus ₹2,678 and the earning per litre ₹68.21. High Speed Diesel totalling 51,783 litres was used. The KSRTC suffered a running loss, excluding salary of crew and other expenses, of ₹20 lakh and a total loss of ₹60 lakh.
“The services are suffering heavy losses. A sum of ₹52 per km is needed for avoiding operational loss. Lack of patronage is the main reason that is preventing private bus owners from operating services. We are expecting more buses after the weekend holidays and Ramzan,” Lawrence Babu, general secretary, Kerala State Private Bus Operators Federation, said.
