Kerala’s KSRTC buses have always had an identity unique like nothing else be it he design, reputation or livery. There have been several new KSRTC bus designs since the organisation’s inception in the early 1950s but their basic livery has always been a commanding red with a yellow band around it just below the window line. It was sometime in the late 1970s that the livery first diverged according to the service class of the bus. Buses on ordinary services remained as they were but Fast Passenger services were given Red, Express were green and Deluxe services were blue with a trademark yellow road “swirl” on their sides. They weren’t just building an identity, it also helped passengers identify the class of service just with a look. Super Fast Passenger services introduced in the late 1990s worked on the red and yellow to bring a “speed” livery.
The buses themselves were built be reminiscent of the state’s beloved Pachyderms. They had a head-up commanding stance about them while also being very tough, robust and comfortable. And fast. They were indeed the elephants on the road, and hence the name “Aanavandi“. The design was no-nonsense and timeless. The buses were built by KSRTC themselves in their regional workshops.
Over the years, the green Express services were discontinued and white replaced blue as the livery for all Deluxe and luxury services. Short-distance ordinary services branded Venad, Thiru-Kochi and Malabar also were given white liveries with various blue lines on them. Low floor AC Volvos and Swift’s luxury services have orange liveries. All city buses received as part of the JnNURM scheme retained their factory-given colours. Even then, Fast and Super Fast Passenger services, the most common and visible long-distance services and KSRTC’s “most “identity”, retained their trademark and highly recognisable liveries with immense road presence and visibility.
KSRTC has been in a downward spiral for some time now. Most buses are more than 15 years old and have been run down to the bone. They haven’t bought new buses for nearly a decade now for non-luxury services. The image of the organisation has taken a massive beating compared to around 10 years back. We only hear about rotting buses, financial troubles, frequent break downs and accidents and rash and unsafe driving. When the news came that they are finally buying around 500 new buses we all thought that we could finally see some kind redemption arriving. But it was not to be.
Take a look at this. I mean, look at them. Look at the new KSRTC bus designs! These are the new Fast Passenger and Super Fast buses that were delivered to KSRTC! All expectations that everyone had have shattered into a thousand pieces. The design is bland and outdated in every sense of the word. It renders the buses invisible on the road. In these modern times of AI-driven design where everything pops and sizzles, these are just… lifeless. Sad. (More photos here). These are no Aanavandis. These are plain terrible!
Photos courtesy: KSRTC Alappuzha, Anish Kumar, Jishnu Jitheesh
These new KSRTC bus designs look straight out of 2010. They look pedestrian and outdated when compared to designs like these. The livery has been butchered. The lively, bright yellow has been muted into a dirty lime. The deep, commanding red is washed out into tomatoes. The famous yellow spiral of the FP is gone and the Superfast “Speed line livery” is substantially diluted as well. One can’t help think that this is the end. This is when our neighbouring states are outdoing themselves in coming out with modern and radical designs and liveries. And this is not just opinion but of many people who follow KSRTC, who are collectively known as Aanavandi Fans. And the opinion is consistent across all fan groups.
Until they were built by KSRTC’s regional body-building workshops, Kerala’s transport buses had a unique look and feel to them. Despite the bench seats they had plenty of legroom and were more or less comfortable on long rides. Then the workshops closed down and KSRTC stopped buying buses. A few purchases here and there were built by Kondody Autocraft or Prakash which were though different from the “classic” KSRTC body type, were still unique and had their own standout personality, and were decently comfortable. With these bodies built by ACGL (Automobile Corporation of Goa Ltd) on their own standard template, KSRTC buses now are doomed to look like any generic old STU buses that run anywhere in India. And what is worse is that initial reports suggest that they have limited legroom, are uncomfortable and hot inside.
The striking red and yellow livery is not just the KSRTC brand, it is it’s unique identity, what gives it its personality. It was familiar, recognisable, distinct, visible and commanding. It invokes emotions, nostalgia and sometimes, rage. The new designs are bland, confusing, emotionless and muted. It is also worth noticing that these new colour schemes will confuse the hell out of passengers as they will not be familiar as to which bus is a Fast Passenger and which is a Super Fast bus. Which was the first reason why the liveries weren’t changed all this time.
Malayalees love to hate KSRTC, but it is also very closely intertwined with the Malayalee pop culture ethos and identity. It is an integral entry in the lineup of icons that reminds them of home, an emotional connect that is manifested by the brand. It is what brings that feeling over you when you see that red-and-yellow dreadnought pull a sweeping curve into the bay next to you in some random bus station in Tamil Nadu or Karnataka. And in today’s circumstances, after decades of mismanagement, brand value is possibly only what KSRTC has left. Changing the livery means killing the last remnants of goodwill that the organisation has left. Every Malayalee, no matter if they travel by it, always have wanted to see the “Aanavandi” in good hands and prosper.
Most KSRTC well wishers would implore KSRTC and the honorable transport minister to please, please reinstate the existing KSRTC livery for Fast Passenger and Super Fast buses. Well changing the livery was tried once, two decades ago, and it didn’t work out. Please let it be your legacy that you rebuilt the brand value of the organisation rather than having changed it for the worse. Or even better, please restart body-building at KSRTC workshops.
P.S.: Once upon a time Kerala and Malayalees used to look down on TNSTC/SETC for their run-down, inferior and uncomfortable buses. Here is a picture of a new bus launched by TNSTC this same week. Our new KSRTC bus designs are incomparable to this. Let us not even talk about Karnataka SRTC.
Photo courtesy: MRA Clicks
