New routes identified in Mysuru ahead of electric bus rollout

The KSRTC engineering team has completed the required bases, and all technical and logistics details have been sent to the central office in Bengaluru. | Photo credit: Ma Sriram

In anticipation of receiving almost 100 electric buses under the PM E-Bus Sewa project, the division of the city of Mysuru of the Karnataka State Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has identified 28 new routes and locations within the city to establish infrastructure. The preparations arrive even thought there is no official confirmation on the exact date of the deployment.

To facilitate soft operations, it is likely that the Bannimantap deposit will be developed as a central center for electric buses. The KSRTC engineering team has completed the required bases, and all technical and logistics details have been sent to the central office in Bengaluru.

In financial year 2024–25, the Mysuru division received 75 diesel buses to manage the increase in passenger load due to the launch of the Shakti scheme, which on free trips for women. However, the current fleet continues to be short, especially on certain high demand routes, which reinforces the need for additional capacity.

Under the PM E-Bus Sewa, a part of the Center’s green urban mobility initiative, 100 electric buses have been assigned to MySuru. Although the city was originally scheduled to receive 120 buses, the current assignment of 100 significantly relieves congestion and improves the service frequency is expected.

Electric buses have been assigned to expand and rationalize operations within the city in the city of Mysuru under the central project. From now on, Mysuru does not have an electric bus operated on the route inside the city unlike Bengaluru.

“These electric buses will help us strengthen the public transport network and extend the services to areas beyond the Foreign Ring Road (ORR),” said Veeresh HT, division manager of the division of the city of Mysuru of KSRTC. “We have identified 28 new routes. With the new fleet, we can increase the schedules of these routes, sacrifice better convenience for travelers.”

Prime Minister E-Bus Sewa is being implemented under a public-private partnership model, with the financial support of the Government of the Union. In addition to buses, the project includes the development of the load infrastructure necessary to support the transition to electronic modification. A key objective of the initiative is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, noise and air pollution in urban areas through the promotion of electrical public transport.

Electric buses, EV Power Plus, have already proven successful on interciated routes such as Bengaluru, MySuru, where the answer has been timidly positive. The prototype, delivered under the scheme of fame-2 in December 2022, has helped show the potential for the mobility of electric buses.

With this initiative, Mysuru will join the ranks of cities such as Bengaluru to depend on electric buses for travel within the city, marking an important step forward in sustainable urban mobility. “The unexplored routes, the increase in frequency during peak hours and improved services on popular routes are being considered as part of the deployment,” Veeresh added.