Low floor deluxe city buses
City buses in Madurai were a changed lot now. Even 3 months back, we can spot only a few ‘Low Floor, Deluxe’ buses on city roads. Now it easily outnumbers the ordinary ones. Most buses plying within city were these low-floor types now.
These private-built buses look sturdier than regular ones. Automatic doors, air suspension were welcome addition. But it has started showing signs of wear & neglect due to characteristic poor maintenance.
State transport corporations quickly adopted Lalu’s technique of charging more without raising basic ticket prices. Bus fare on low floor buses were 200% to 250% higher than basic fare.
The following were the ticket fares between Periyar Bus Stand & TIrumangalam (approx: 20kms):
- Basic fare: Rs . 5.50 [red bus with big yellow band in middle]
- LSS fare: Rs. 6.50 [blue & yellow chequered ]
- City Exp: Rs.10.00 [green & yellow]
- Low Floor: Rs.11.00 [saffron & yellow - visually distinct]
It seems more than 90% of buses in this route were low floor – as it serves high commuter traffic of south-bound mofusil travellers, who find it easier/time saving to visit Tirumangalam than to visit Mattu Thavani Integrated Bus Stand (MIBS).
How does it perform in cost-conscious Madurai?
Daily wage earners depend mostly on city buses. You should see the expressions in their face, when three consecutive buses to their destination were all ‘low-floors’. They even have a nickname for it – ‘kollakara bussu’ (pirate bus) !!
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Will the (g)olden days of the silver painted PRC buses return !! Well, i hope they do !!
Sigh !
Hey do you have a picture of these Kollakara bussu? I used to like those Silver painted PRCS buses.
Hi Dinesh,
The Silver painted PRCs were well maintained. There used to be contract labourers who work through the night to clean them. Not sure what happened to that practice.
Here is a picture taken by ‘VijayMdu’
I will post more clear photos in a week.