February 18, 2023 08:48 pm | Updated February 19, 2023 12:33 am IST – THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
Buoyed by the success of the ‘Jan Shatabdi model’ bus services introduced by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), the public utility has launched more such conductor-less end-to-end low-floor AC services on additional routes, including one between Thiruvananthapuram and Nedumbassery International Airport.
The new services were launched on Friday, the 100th day since the introduction of the ‘Jan Shatabdi model’ bus service. The service mainly caters to officials travelling from one city to another.
The Thiruvananthapuram-Ernakulam service, which starts from Thampanoor at 5:10 a.m. reaches Ernakulam before 9:20 a.m., ahead of its scheduled arrival at 9:40 a.m. The Corporation has decided to extend the service to the High Court at Ernakulam considering the repeated requests from passengers. Further, a new service from Thiruvananthapuram to Nedumbassery airport has been launched for the convenience of air passengers.
The service is scheduled in such a way that it will depart from Thampanoor at 5:10 p.m. and reach Nedumbassery at 10:40 p.m. The bus will take only 5 hours and 30 minutes to reach Nedumbassery airport with stops only at Ayath (Kollam), Kommadi (Alappuzha), Vyttila, Aluva, and Athani. Passengers can either buy tickets online in advance or from the driver after boarding the bus. While returning, the bus will leave the airport at 4:30 a.m. and reach Thiruvananthapuram at 10 a.m., said a recent release issued by the KSRTC.
Service to Wonderla
In addition, the public utility will hold a service from Thiruvananthapuram to Wonderla in Kochi on all holidays. The bus leaves Thiruvananthapuram at 5 a.m. and reaches the destination at 10:30 a.m. On the return trip, the bus will depart from Wonderla at 5:10 p.m. and reach Thiruvananthapuram at 10:40 p.m.
Further considering the rush on weekends, four more services have been launched from Thampanoor on various routes on Fridays and Sundays, which include the Kottayam-Thrissur-Palakkad route (7:30 p.m.-5 a.m and 1 p.m.-10:40 p.m.), Kottayam-Thrissur-Kozhikode-Kannur (7:03 p.m.-7 a.m and 5 p.m.-4.a.m.), Kollam-Alappuzha-Vyttila-Perumbavoor-Kothamangalam-Munnar (10:15 p.m.-7 a.m. and 7 p.m.-4:30 a.m.), and Kottarakkara-Kottayam-Thrissur-Kunnamkulam-Guruvayur (Friday and Saturday 8.30 p.m.-5.05 a.m and 2 p.m.-10.50 p.m.)
The facility for buying tickets from the bus through Phone Pay will be provided this month, while online booking can also be done through online.kerlartc.com, or enteksrtc App, said the KSRTC.
