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How are KSRTC buses numbered?

Kerala State Road Transport Corporation is among the very few STUs in the country that have a fleet numbering system. Large majority of STU buses across the country are known by their depot and registration numbers. Some STUs like Kerala’s KSRTC, Tamil Nadu’s SETC, Mumbai’s BEST, Pune’s PMPML, among others, have a dedicated fleet numbering system. This internal number is used on all internal communications and forms the address of the vehicle for all practical purposes.

While BEST and PMPML uses only numericals, SETC and KSRTC use alphanumeric numbering system. SETC’s numbering system combines a three letter depot code, a one letter identifier and three digits. An example could be CNC C471, where CNC is the depot code (Chennai-C Depot), “C” is an identifier and 471 is the fleet number - meaning this is the 471st bus in the “C” series. [This needs authentication].

Kerala’s own KSRTC has a very unique system - perhaps the only one of its kind in the country [We would be glad to hear if there are parallels anywhere in the country].

The numbering is alphanumeric and is made of two-three Alphabets and three digits. The alphabets are derived from the word TRANSPORT. The first bus of KSRTC was probably numbered [authentication required] T001, and went on till 999, when they moved over to R001, and went through to R999. The bus after T999 was probably numbered 1000 and the 1001st bus of KSRTC was numbered R001. They used the alphabets T, R, A, N, S, P only. “O” was not used since it could be confused with “0″ (Zero). The second R and T were ignored to avoid duplication.

Once the single alphabet system was completed, they moved to two alphabets. The first bus to have a two alphabet fleet code (we called it a bonnet number) was TR001. The numbering continued thus till RR054. Some time in 2002, the body building of KSRTC buses was outsourced, and the first such outsourced bus was TP599. Outsourced buses continued till RR054. RR054 was the last full built regular KSRTC bus to be inducted. It may be noted that fully built buses were procured even after that - but those were JnNURM funded urban buses, special vehicles or premium intercity coaches.

Body building of KSRTC buses returned to KSRTC workshops in 2007. The first such bus built was RRK55. This was the beginning of the three letter series system. They continued to have only three numbers. As an exemption to the entire system, buses built by Edappal regional workshop was numbered with a seperate series - the TE series. About 144 buses had TE series bonnet numbers. This series is an exemption to the entire numbering scheme.

When body building of KSRTC buses returned to KSRTC’s inhouse workshops, they came up with a three alphabet series identifier code system. They suffixed an alphabet to denote the body building workshop with the two letter identifier code. Things are getting a little confusing, is it? KSRTC buses are built at 5 Workshops - Central Works, Pappanamcode, Trivandrum (C); Regional Workshops at - Mavelikara (M), Aluva (A), Edappal (E) and Kozhikode (K). 

Using the combination of alphabets from the word TRANSPORT, we have reached the “RP” series now. We will shortly have buses coming from a brand new series - the “AT” series. Each series will have 999 buses, and the 1000th bus will get a numeric Bonnet Number. At the end of the RP series, that is, after RPx999, (x standing for the workshop that builds the bus), there would be a bus numbered 18000 - representing that the bus is KSRTC’s 18000th bus (which is not really true, since there were 144 buses in the TE series, and the bus numbered 18000, would be KSRTC’s 18144th bus). Buses bought as fully built vehicles will not have a workshop identifier - for example, the Volvo B7Rs of KSRTC are numbered RA100 to RA102, the Volvo B9Rs are numbered RS781 to RS790, and the Scania Metrolink HD 13.7m coaches are numbered RP651 to RP668. There are three exemptions - RN765 & RN766 (Ashok Leyland Titan Double decker buses), and RN777 (Ashok Leyland Vestibule bus). These too do not have a workshop identifier since they were purchased fully built. 

This system is followed by all KSRTC buses. Buses operated by KSRTC’s subsidiary, KURTC - Kerala Urban Road Transport Corporation - are numbered using a different series, the JN series. Buses owned by KURTC are numbered starting JN001 and would go on till JN720 (provided KURTC takes delivery of all buses ordered under the JnNURM scheme). All these buses are purchased as fully built vehicles, and hence would not have the workshop identifier code.