KSRTC ticket bookings surge during Diwali, daily reservations cross 62,000

The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has recorded a major increase in advance ticket reservations during this year's Diwali festival. According to a report by The Hindu, daily bookings have crossed the 62,000 mark for two consecutive days following various measures taken to expand services.

According to KSRTC officials, an average of 62,000 seat reservations have been recorded over the last three days. Compared to last year's Diwali festival, where the daily average was approximately 37,000 reservations, a massive surge in demand has been observed this year.

The reservation figures clarify the significant increase in demand. On November 6, the number of bookings rose to 65,416, while 62,499 bookings were recorded on November 7. The figures for November 6 show an increase of approximately 77% compared to last year's daily average of 37,000 reservations. Bookings remained significantly high on November 7 as well.

Explaining the reasons for this increase, a senior KSRTC official stated that the corporation has introduced a system whereby additional buses are made available on the online reservation platform whenever all seats on existing services are filled.

The official further stated, “We started this initiative almost a month ago to ensure that passengers do not miss out on reservations due to the unavailability of seats. When all seats of a particular bus are booked, another bus for the same route is immediately added to the reservation system. Through this initiative, we have included more than 1,000 additional buses in the online reservation system, allowing passengers to book seats in additional services.”

Another important reason for the increase in reservations is the introduction of additional designated pick-up points at 15 different locations in Bengaluru. According to officials, this step aims to reduce the inconvenience faced by passengers in travelling to the main bus terminal to catch their bus.

Passengers can now select a pick-up point according to their convenience while booking tickets online. Officials believe that providing boarding facilities near residential areas has encouraged more people to choose KSRTC services.

The senior official added, “Increasing the number of designated pick-up points has been particularly beneficial for passengers. Instead of going to the main bus stations, they can choose a boarding location near their home. This facility has also contributed to the increase in advance reservations.”

Additionally, KSRTC has expanded its special bus operations to meet the extra demand from passengers during the Diwali holidays. In previous years, special services were mainly focused on major cities or primary destinations, but this time the corporation has extended these services to several other locations, including important towns and taluk centres across the state.

The official further informed that to facilitate the movement of passengers during the festive rush, plans were made to operate more than 2,000 special buses at various locations in Karnataka on November 6 and 7.