THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation officials are hopeful of starting inter-State Volvo bus services to Hyderabad first which would then be taken up to Pondicherry, Mumbai and Chennai.
With Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation officials visiting the State and holding talks with Transport Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and top officials in the ministry, they have asked for two months time to set up the services due to the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
However, the KSRTC management is ready to start its operations to Hyderabad any time. According to top officials of the corporation, there are two ways to reach Hyderabad from here, one through Tamil Nadu and Bengaluru (Coimbatore, Salem, Erode, Tiruppur, Hosur, Bengaluru, Tumkur and Hyderabad) and the second through Kerala and Karnataka (Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Sultan Bathery, Gundalpet, Mysore, Bengaluru, Tumkur and Hyderabad).
“At the meeting with AP Transport Corporation officials, we exchanged our destinations and agreed to operate through AP. They have asked for two months time until the State bifurcation is complete. We have already started a District Transport Office at Santhi Nagar in Bengaluru which would be the hub on its operation to Hyderabad”, said Antony Chacko, chairman and managing director of KSRTC.
The KSRTC management is hopeful of entering into an agreement with the Andhra transport officials hoping that it would be a boon to regular travelers, especially techies, students and businessmen.
The Andhra team had recently visited Sabarimala after which they went to Thiruvananthapuram and held talks with Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and top KSRTC officials.
However, the logistics on the duration of the total distance is yet to be worked out. The total duration of the trip from Ernakulam to Bengaluru is currently 12 hours and it would take another 8-9 hours for the ongoing trip from Bengaluru to Hyderabad.
Currently, the KSRTC has been operating multi-axle Volvo services to Bengaluru and super deluxe buses to Coimbatore and Salem.
