Electric buses will operate on 23 inner-city routes in Thiruvananthapuram; services will begin on Saturday, says Mayor

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Mayor V V Rajesh has announced that electric buses will operate on 23 inner-city routes in the state capital. He said that although councillors had suggested 29 routes, six of them were found to be financially unviable. The services will begin on Saturday. The mayor also said that buses which had earlier operated on some routes would be included in the new service schedule.

Earlier, there had been differences of opinion between the mayor and the transport minister over the operation of electric buses under the Smart City project of the corporation. Amid the controversy, the mayor held discussions with Transport Minister K B Ganesh Kumar and it was decided during the meeting to continue the existing arrangement for operating the electric buses.

The electric buses introduced under the Smart City project became a topic of debate after the BJP assumed power in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. Citing a review that found 113 buses running on inner-city routes to be unprofitable, the transport minister had stepped in and moved them to other areas. The matter later sparked controversy when V V Rajesh insisted that the buses should continue operating within the city limits.

The corporation had demanded that buses sent to other depots be brought back immediately. V V Rajesh had earlier stated that the services should be operated in a way that benefits city residents and that there had been lapses in sharing profits with the corporation.