Kerala State Road Transport Corporation

Kerala State Road Transport Corporation
Type	Public Sector Corporation under the Ministry of Transport of the State Government of Kerala
Industry	Public transport bus service
Founded	1938
Headquarters	Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Area served	Kerala
Products	Bus transport, Cargo Transport, Services
Services	Volvo AC Airbus, Globus AC Airbus, Super Deluxe Airbus, Super Express Airbus, Super Express, Super Fast, Fast Passenger, Venad/Malabar Limited Stop, Ananthapuri/Thiru Kochi, Ordinary Bus, JnNURM AC Volvo Low Floor, JnNURM Non AC Low Floor
Website	www.keralartc.com

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For the state owned road transport corporation in Karnataka, see Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation.

Kerala State Road Transport Corporation is the state-run bus company in Kerala, India. It is one of the oldest state run public bus transport services in India.

[edit] History

The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation began as the Travancore State Transport Department, constituted by the former Travancore Government with the intent of reorganizing the transportation services of the former state. Mr. EG Salter, Assistant Operating Superintendent of London Passenger Transport Board, was appointed as Superintendent of the Transport Department on 20 September 1937. The Travancore Transport Department grew with nationalisation of key interstate routes such as Thiruvanathapuram to Kanyakumari and Palakkad to Coimbatore.

The first fleet consisted of 60 Comet chassis fitted with Perkins diesel engines, imported from England. The bodies of the buses were built by the staff of the Travancore State Transport Department under the supervision of the Superintendent. The model for the selection of operating staff continues to be followed by the current operating staff. The Transport Department gave preference in recruitment for those who were likely to lose their the private transport company jobs resulting from the nationalization of Thiruvanathapuram Kanyakumari route. Thus the Transport Department began with a staff of about a hundred graduates appointed as Inspectors and Conductors.

The State Motor Service was inaugurated by His Highness Sree Chithirathirunal on the 20th of February 1938. His Highness and his kin were the first passengers of the system on the inaugural trip; Superintendent Salter was the driver of the bus. This bus, along with the thirty-three other buses brought on road driving through the Kowdiar Square was an attraction at that time.

Following the enactment of the Road Transport Corporation Act in 1950, the Government of Kerala formulated KSRTC rules in 1965 by Section 44. The Transport Department was converted into an autonomous corporation on 1 April 1965 and the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation was formally established by the government of Kerala by the notification dated, 15 March 1965.

A KSRTC TATA 1512c Superfast Bus

KSRTC volvo 8400 low floor bus for Trivandrum and Kochi Cities

KSRTC Ashok Leyland Super Deluxe and Tata Globus AC Airbus

[edit] Fleet

The corporation has a fleet of 5,691 buses consisting Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors and Volvo buses, midibuses, and minibuses.^[1] The fleet composition as of 6 December 2010 was:

Service Type	Model	Numbers	Description
City Ordinary	Ashok Leyland Viking, Tata 1510 & Tata 1512c	150	Ordinary Buses in Thiruvananthapuram for city transportation.
City Double Decker	Ashok Leyland Titan	2	Double Decker buses in Thiruvananthapuram / Kochi charging ordinary fares.
Ananthapuri Fast / Thiru Kochi	Ashok Leyland Viking, Tata 1510 & Tata 1512c	206	City buses in Thiruvananthapuram / Kochi with 2x2 seating layout.
Low Floor Non-AC City Bus	Ashok Leyland 11m Panther Low Floor	240	Low Floor City Buses under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission scheme in Thiruvananthapuram / Kochi with 2x2 seating layout.
Low Floor AC City Bus	Volvo 8400	80	Low Floor AC City Buses under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission scheme in Thiruvananthapuram / Kochi with 2x2 seating layout.
Minibus	Tata 709E, Ashok Leyland Stag	161	Mini Buses are used on small feeder routes charging ordinary fares.
Short Wheel Base Buses	Tata 1510/1512c, Ashok Leyland Cheetah	200	Midi Buses with shorter wheelbase (176 in wheelbase) are used on routes in hilly areas, ghats and small narrower roads charging ordinary fares.
Ordinary	Ashok Leyland Viking, Tata 1510 & Tata 1512c	3,809	Short routes served by older buses that used to run on higher grade services.
Venad / Malabar	Ashok Leyland Viking, Tata 1510 & Tata 1512c	1,435	Comfortable buses used as Limited Stop Ordinary [LS ORD] / Fare Stage Limited Stop [FSLS] / Town to Town [TT] with 3x2 seating layout and Ordinary Fare Stage.
Fast Passenger	Ashok Leyland Viking, Tata 1510 & Tata 1512c	920	Short and long distance no frill services with 3x2 seating layout.
Super Fast	Ashok Leyland Viking, Tata 1510 & Tata 1512c	291	Fast, long distance services with 3x2 seating layout.
Super Fast Airbus	Tata Globus	17	Converted old TATA 1616c Luxury buses, often long distance with 2x2 seats more leg room and full air suspension. Same fare as a Super Fast.
Super Express	Ashok Leyland Viking	79	Faster, long distance services, often interstate with 3x2 seating layout.
Super Express Airbus	Ashok Leyland 12M & Tata 1612c	70	Newly introduced long distance services on 12 m chassis, often interstate with 3x2 seating layout with more leg room and rear air suspension. Some buses have 2x2 seating layout. Same fare as a Super Express.
Super Deluxe Airbus	Ashok Leyland Viking	30	Luxury interstate and intrastate services, often long distance with 2x2 reclining seats and rear air suspension.
Garuda Volvo (AC)	Volvo 9400	3	Interstate Services Luxury Buses to Bangalore with 2x2 reclining seats and full air suspension.
Total		5,691	Total number of Schedules : 5,143

[edit] Depots and Workshops

KSRTC has twenty eight depots, forty-one sub-depots, eighteen operating centres, and five workshops spread throughout the Kerala.^[2] In 1995 Kerala State Road Transport Corporation ventured into the technical education field by establishing an engineering college named Sree Chitra Thirunal College of Engineering at Pappanamcode on its Central Workshop premises.

[edit] Facts

KSRTC TATA Globus AC Airbus

The daily scheduled distance for bus services has increased from 12,00,000 km to 14,22,546 km.^[3]
Nearly 5,373 buses run on 4,795 schedules everyday.^[4]
Average number of passengers transported in a day is 31.45 Lakhs (3.145 million)
The average earnings per km (EPKM) works out to around 25.69 and the average earnings per bus (EPB) works out to 8,329.

[edit] Fares

55 paise for City/Ordinary Services, 57 paise for City Fast/Fast Passenger/Limited Stop Fast Passenger Services, 60 paise for Super Fast Services, 65 paise for Super Express Services, 75 paise for Super Deluxe/Semi Sleeper Services, 90 paise for Luxury/High-Tech/Air Conditioned Services and 110 paise for Volvo Services. The prescribed minimum charges are:

Rs 5.00 for City/Ordinary services/City Fast Services
Rs 7.00 for Fast passenger/ Limited Stop Fast Passenger Services
Rs.10.00 for Super Fast Services
Rs.15.00 for Super Express
Rs.20 for Super Deluxe/ Semi Sleeper Services
Rs 30 for Luxury/Hi-tech/Air Conditioned/Volvo Services.

The revised fares went into effect at midnight 07 December 2008.

[edit] Historical fares

Half a Chakram was the minimum fare in 1938. The first class tickets had cost 50% more than the coordinating rate. During that period free travel was allowed for children up to 3 years and only half the fare was charged for children until age 14. There were no luggage tickets, but when the luggage weighed more than 28 pounds up to 56 pounds, a fee was assessed for 4 chakras. Passengers with luggage that weighed more than 56 pounds were assessed a fee of 6 chakras up to 112 pounds and above. As the Chakram had triple the value of a 100 rupee currency note today, the cost of travelling was comparatively higher during those days.