Activists have expressed concern over the Coimbatore division of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation’s (TNSTC) decision to reduce ultra-low-floor bus services to cut fuel costs. They warned that the reduction could particularly impact daily wage workers and students who rely on these services to travel from peripheral and rural locations.

The Coimbatore region currently operates approximately 165 of these ultra-low-floor vehicles. However, the buses reportedly achieve less than three kilometers per liter in mileage, leading to increasing financial losses for the division. Consequently, depot branch managers have been directed to streamline operations, specifically targeting late-night and early-morning trips.

Sources said around 165 ultra-low-floor buses are currently operated in the Coimbatore region. The buses reportedly deliver a mileage of less than three kilometres per litre, resulting in mounting operational losses for the transport division. Depot branch managers have therefore been instructed to rationalise trips operated during early morning and late night hours.

Under the revised schedule, buses operating 10 trips a day have been reduced to six trips. Services of short-distance buses operating up to 20 trips daily have been brought down to 10, while buses operating 28 trips a day have had their services reduced by half. TNSTC sources said the reduction was confined largely to early morning and night services to minimise inconvenience to commuters.

Officials said passenger density on routes was being monitored before reducing services. Trips witnessing consistently low patronage, including those operated around 5 a.m. and after 9 p.m., are being identified for cancellation or partial withdrawal on select routes.

Social activist S. Basha said the reduction in early morning services could severely affect school and college students travelling from villages and outskirts to educational institutions. Many students living in far-flung outskirts commute to colleges located on the outskirts of the city by changing two or more buses in the morning to reach classes on time, he said. Conservancy workers, construction labourers and other daily wage workers travelling from rural and peripheral areas would also face hardship due to the reduction in services, he added.

S. Chandrasekar, the Coimbatore regional coordinator for Palli Kalvi Padhukaapu Iyakkam, highlighted that school dropouts among government school students are frequently linked to insufficient public transportation. He argued that as schools prepare to reopen, bus frequencies to rural villages should be expanded rather than cut. To address this, his organisation plans to petition the district administration for enhanced transport services tailored to the needs of students in rural locations.

A senior TNSTC official said the reduction in services would not be substantial and that only routes with persistently low passenger numbers were being reviewed. The official added that the exercise was being carried out in a manner that would not affect students and working-class commuters and clarified that the reduction applied only to ultra-low-floor buses, while ordinary bus services would continue without changes.