Bus-ted batteries: Public transport turns public workout for TNSTC passengers

SEVERAL TNSTC buses at KTC Nagar depot have to keep their wheels turning throughout the day; a single halt is enough to exhaust the engine and the vehicle won't move one inch further.

- THINAKARAN RAJAMANI @Tirunelveli

SEVERAL TNSTC buses at KTC Nagar depot have to keep their wheels turning throughout the day; a single halt is enough to exhaust the engine and the vehicle won't move one inch further. Drivers are instructed to go on full steam until the bus is parked at the depot at night. The morning protocol is even more taxing—an army is required to jump-start the vehicles every day, with a lengthy cable used to connect the drained batteries to the charged battery of another bus, allege TNSTC bus drivers and conductors.