Kerala government launches 'pink bus' service for women only

Transport Minister CP John during the inauguration ceremony of ‘Pink Bus’ services for women by Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) on Thursday (July 23, 2026) in Thiruvananthapuram. | Photo credit: JAYAMOHAN A

The Kerala government on Thursday (July 23, 2026) launched the women-only ‘pink bus’ service introduced by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) at the Thiruvananthapuram Central Depot as part of the government’s 100-day action plan.

After launching the rollout of the initiative at the state level, Transport Minister CP John said the project is being implemented to ensure safe and comfortable travel for working women. The government’s goal is to create an environment where women can travel freely.

Pink buses will operate at 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM to ensure safety during night travel for women working in places including Technopark. The project will soon be extended to other districts, the routes and timings will be decided after assessing the demands of the passengers, the minister said.

In addition to the night connections, the pink buses will also run during the day. The minister said pink bus services were arranged in the morning to ensure safe travel to the medical college for women arriving by train, mothers traveling with small children and patients.

The minister said that KSRTC is doing an exemplary job in promoting the use of public transport, that it has gained strong trust and acceptance among the people, which has increased the confidence and pride of the employees. Mr John added that there was no reason to fear that staff salaries would be affected in the name of introducing the free travel scheme.

Services in the capital will run via East Fort, Thampanoor, Pattom, Medical College (RCC), Ulloor, Kazhakuttam, Techno Park, Infosys, Lulu Mall and KIMS Hospital. In order to ensure punctuality of services and increase revenues, an online reservation facility and the use of electric buses in the future are also being considered. New Link Fast Passenger buses have been allocated for the project to run services from Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam depots. Board member Harikumar presided over the inaugural function. KSRTC Chairman and CEO PS Pramoj Shankar welcomed the gathering.

Published – 23 Jul 2026 19:15 IST