Bus services to TN resume

Transport services between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, which were suspended for nearly a month, have resumed and are in full swing.

While a few buses operated on Wednesday, about 70 to 85% of the buses owned by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) were back on the roads on Thursday.

“Services are normalising on both sides and it is peaceful now. Over the next few days, as more people get to know about transport being restored and with several holidays coming up, we are expecting bookings to pick up,” said Rajender Kumar Kataria, managing director of KSRTC. The two transport corporations operate about 450 buses between the neighbouring states.

Kataria added that they may consider deploying additional buses between the two states if there is enough demand. Due to the rush, they have also posted extra traffic officers in several parts of Tamil Nadu, who control movement of buses and assess demand.

The 28-day suspension of services has made a serious dent in the revenues of the corporation. “We have been hit very badly this year owing to the many strikes in the past few months and then the Cauvery issue. The corporation has suffered a loss of over Rs 40 crore,” he said. Operations to Kerala had also been disturbed as the buses could not take the usual route because they passed through Tamil Nadu.

With an extended weekend round the corner, tour bookings across the states have also resumed. “From 2 pm on Wednesday, we have resumed operations. Several business trips were made today and we are confident that we will get many tourist bookings tomorrow as people get to know and start planning,” said K Radhakrishna Holla, president of Bangalore Tourist Taxi Owners’ Association.

The 60,000 plus vehicles which are part of the association, have incurred an estimated loss of Rs 270 crore over 27 days. ”On a daily basis, our cabs used to be hired for corporate trips to places in Tamil Nadu like Erode, Mettur, Salem and Hosur where there are several industries. All such business trips were completely suspended in the past month.” 

However, M P Ramesh, general secretary of the Karnataka Maxi Cab and Motor Cab Owners’ Association said a few vehicles faced problems at the checkpost even on Thursday. “I had to leave my passengers in Mulbagal, near the Andhra Pradesh border.

They were forced to cross the border on foot and take another vehicle to Kanchipuram.” Maxi-cabs are not getting permits at the Hosur checkpost, he added.
DH News Service

*About 70% to 85% of the buses owned by KSRTC and TNSTC resume service
*The two transport corporations operate about 450 buses between the neighbouring states
*Additional buses to be deployed if there is enough demand
*The 28-day suspension of services has made a serious dent in the revenues of the corporation
*The bus associations have incurred an estimated loss of Rs 270 crore over 27 days