KSRTC Super Deluxe Air Bus ATC 196 is Tired

A tired and quite beat up KSRTC Super Deluxe Air Bus ATC 196 makes its way up an incline on MC Road near Valakom in Kollam district on its way from Mananthavady in Wayanad district to Thiruvananthapuram. The bus is now nearly 10 years old and looks like it has been running nonstop with little maintenance for a long time now. And to think that this is a premium class service! The bus is a Tata 1612c that once looked like an alien but was then rebuilt (probably after a crash) with twin headlights in a black cowl that would’ve looked quite handsome back then. It now just looks like a tin box that can barely hold itself together and will fall apart any moment.

KSRTC was once among the premier STUs in the country but is among the worst today. KSRTC hasn’t bought a new bus for regular service in the past 10 years or so. With no money to buy new buses they have been extending the life of super class buses until their breaking point resulting is situations like this.