New KSRTC Link Bus in hi-tech yellow livery

Featured here is what is called the new KSRTC Link Bus in hi-tech yellow livery with bonnet number AT 499 as per KSRTC’s numbering scheme on display at the Transpo exhibition at Kanakakunnu, Trivandrum. What we are looking here is a new type of bus previously not seen on KSRTC. It is expected to connect towns and cities that do not lie on arterial routes with each other. For instance, Nedumangad and Kollam or Kottayam and Alappuzha or Nilambur and Guruvayoor. This is speculation, though.

What we though know is about the livery of the new KSRTC Link Bus. The yellow and green design with a Kathakali face was once introduced as a part of a radical redesign programme initiated by the current transport minister (KB Ganesh Kumar) during his first stint back in 2003. This livery design in yellow was meant for the new breed of “hi-tech” Super Fast buses as they were known back then. It was designed by Sabu Cyril and was implemented on all the new “hi-tech” Super Fast buses that were introduced with a radically new body design. However these buses turned out to be performance disasters and were scrapped early. The livery was then rolled back to the traditional Super Fast livery and the modern classic boxy body design was evolved from that “hi-tech” design by KSRTC body works. Now it looks like that old short lived livery is now making a comeback through KSRTC Link Buses