Bengaluru might be just a night’s journey away for Keralites. But for those bound for the garden city, the distance has only got longer with time.

Malayalis are faced with a deadly mix of travel woes. They are up against problems aplenty in the form of hefty private bus fares, inadequate railway connectivity and a lobby of travel agents and private operators who allegedly grab railway tickets during peak seasons, to redirect passengers to private transport.

Adding to the cup of Malayali travellers’ woes has been the cancellation of the lone Volvo AC bus of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), which was servicing the Thiruvananthapuram-Bengaluru sector.

Maintenance and financial crunch have been cited as the reasons for the cancellation. However, harassed travellers say this as KSRTC’s ploy to help private bus operators.

“The KSRTC usually cancels their services citing low returns. But, there are 29 private AC buses operating between central Kerala and Bengaluru.

There are several non-AC services too. They wouldn’t run so many services if there’s no profit. There are several non-AC services too. ,” says Binai K. Sankar, an active travel blogger from Kodungalloor.

Regular travellers also complain that KSRTC usually cancels its services during peak seasons like summer holidays, Onam and Christmas, just to aid private bus services.

With the higher secondary results set to be announced on May 15, the rush to Bengaluru is expected to shoot up. With train tickets to Bengaluru being already sold out till mid- June, people have no option but to burn their pockets and choose private buses.

The hardest-hit are passengers from Thrissur, Kochi and Kottayam, from where a lot of people travel to Bengaluru for studies and jobs.

Travel experts say the problems are expected to worsen in early June, when schools and colleges open after holidays.

Karnataka rakes in huge profits

While the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation finds a rare sort of joy in cancelling bus services to Bengaluru, allegedly to help the private bus lobbies, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation is raking in huge profits from their Kerala bus services. In fact, the KSRTC's loss is the Karnataka RTC’s gain.

According to travel experts, there are seven AC buses (Airavat club class) and five non-AC buses (Rajahamsa) to the southern districts of Kerala, all garnering huge profit for the Karnataka transport department. In fact, Kerala services are the second highest profit-makers, after Mumbai services, for the KRTC.

“If we compare Kerala RTC with Karnataka RTC regarding Bangalore services, anybody can say that the latter has an upper hand. Karnataka has more number of services with more facilities than its Kerala counterparts.

They are running the buses for the sake of passenger needs and comfort and not just for the sake of profit,” said Sujith Bhakthan, an active netizen, who blogs on KSRTC buses.

The large number of bus services operated by Karnataka RTC itself shows that their Kerala services are profitable. However, the KSRTC insists on saying that its Bengaluru-bound buses are running at a huge loss.