The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) on Thursday said it will run special bus services between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for Deepavali. These include Bengaluru-Chennai bus services, and will run till November 16. This run marks the first time that KSRTC will run buses between the two states since March, when inter-state travel was not allowed in order to curb the spread of COVID-19. Wearing of masks will be mandatory for all travellers. The services may be extended if there is continued demand.
“Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation had stopped operation of inter-state bus services due to COVID-19 and lockdown. As lockdown has been relaxed, KSRTC will operate special services from different places of Karnataka state to various places of Tamil Nadu State from11.11.2020 to 16.11.2020. The services will be operated keeping in view the density of passengers. It is mandatory for all passengers to wear masks. Passengers can book tickets in advance online at www.ksrtc.in or through KSRTC/Franchisee advance reservation counters. The passengers are requested to avail the above facilities,” KSRTC said in a statement.
Till now, the KSRTC has gradually resumed interstate travel between Karnataka and all the neighbouring states, barring Tamil Nadu, with the union government relaxing interstate travel rules. At the start of the month, the state government-run corporation had resumed bus operations from Bengaluru and Mysuru to Hyderabad, starting from November 3. Interstate travel to Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra and Kerala has already resumed.
The first batch of interstate bus services to function since the lockdown was to Kerala. Buses plied to the state from Bengaluru, Mysuru, Kodagu and Sulia from August 25 to September 6 on account of the Onam holiday season. While most routes have reopened since the lockdown period, the transport corporation is yet to get back to its full scale of operation, compared to the pre-COVID-19 days.