TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: In an attempt to improve its passenger transport services, the Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited (KTCL) is presently studying the West Bengal road transport model, in addition to its inland waterways with plans of taking on a new initiative of providing ferry services in the years to come.
A KTC delegation is currently on a study tour in Calcutta to examine various technical and operational aspects adopted by the West Bengal Road Transport Corporation.
“We chose to visit Calcutta as this State has a road transport system very similar to Goa,” said a Corporation official handling the traffic division of KTC.
He said that in West Bengal public transport is provided by the government and the private sector.
“We wanted to see how both transport systems operate here in Calcutta,” he said adding that the public transport system provided by the government is doing fairly well despite the fact that private players are also providing road transport.
In Goa, the KTC has been incurring losses for several years as private operations are alleged to be taking a huge toll on those routes where passenger services are provided by both sectors.
In fact the transport department in Goa was proposing to appoint a consultant to study this issue and see how the Corporation could have an edge over the private sector transport system on the non-nationalised routes.
While in West Bengal, the government run road transport corporation has a fleet of around 700 buses, in Goa the KTC has a fleet of over 500 vehicles operating on intra- State and inter- State.
The Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited is in the process of revamping its services by introducing new vehicles, computer systems, electronic ticketing systems etc.
The KTC has received a good response to its pass system and caters to more than 1200 additional passengers on its nationalised shuttle service routes.
The delegation is also visiting Bhubaneshwar to study its transport systems.
KTC Chairman Carlos Almeida when contacted by Herald said, “The corporation is in the process of having new depots in Porvorim, Curchorem, Canacona, Pernem and we felt we should upgrade out systems by incorporating all that is working successfully in other States.”
