The North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation - (NWKRTC), is a state-owned public road transport corporation in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is wholly owned by the Government of Karnataka. It serves routes to towns and cities in the Northwestern part of Karnataka except Bijapur district and connects it to the rest of the state and the states of Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Goa.

History

Foundation

Mysore Government Road Transport Department was inaugurated on 12 September 1948 with 120 buses.^[1] The transport department of The Mysore state administered it until 1961.

Corporatization

It was subsequently converted into an independent corporation under Section 3 of the Road Transport Corporation Act, 1950 on 1 August 1961, In 1961, after successfully converting into an independent corporation all assets and liabilities of MGRTD were transferred to Mysore State Road Transport Corporation.^[1]

Merger

On 1 October 1961, Bangalore Transport Service was merged with it.^[1]

Renaming

On 1 November 1973, the Mysore state was renamed as Karnataka thus, renaming it Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation.

Bifurcation

• On 15 August 1997, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation was bifurcated to cater to the transportation needs of Bangalore Metropolitan Region. It was formed by separating the Bangalore Transport Service.
• on 1 November 1997, North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation was bifurcated to cater to the transportation needs of Northwestern parts of Karnataka.
• On 15 August 2000, Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (then North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation) was bifurcated to cater to the transportation needs of Northeastern parts of Karnataka.^[2][3][4]

This left the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation to serve the Southern part of Karnataka.

• On 23 November 2009, Bijapur division was transferred from NWKRTC to KKRTC.

Services

• Vayavya Karnataka Sarige: It is a non-AC bus service with 3+2 non-reclining seats built on single-axle Ashok Leyland, Tata and Eicher suburban chassis with a panchrangi livery of five colours consisting of white, yellow, red, light green and dark green colours. It is an interdistrict, interstate service in Kitturu Karnataka (Northwestern Karnataka) except Bijapur district.
• Vayavya Gramantara Sarige: It is a non-AC bus service with 3+2 non-reclining seats built on single-axle Ashok Leyland, Tata and Eicher suburban chassis with a durangi livery of two colours consisting of blue and white colours. It is a service to connect villages to nearby cities and towns in Kitturu Karnataka (Northwestern Karnataka) except Bijapur district.
• Vayavya Nagara Sarige: It is a non-AC bus service with 2+2 non-reclining seats built on single-axle Ashok Leyland, Tata and Eicher urban chassis with various liveries depending upon the locale. It is an intracity and town service in Kitturu Karnataka (Northwestern Karnataka) except Bijapur district.
• Rajahamsa Executive Class: It is a non-AC ultra-deluxe bus service with 2+2 reclining semi-sleeper seats built on single-axle Ashok Leyland, Tata and Eicher chassis with a white livery. It is a long-distance service operating out of Kitturu Karnataka (Northwestern Karnataka) except Bijapur district.
• Pallakki Class: It is a non-AC ultra-deluxe bus service with 2+1 lower and upper berth sleeper seats built on single-axle Ashok Leyland, Tata and Eicher chassis with a white livery. It is a long-distance service operating out of Kitturu Karnataka (Northwestern Karnataka) except Bijapur district.
• Non-AC Sleeper Class: It is a non-AC ultra-deluxe bus service with 2+1 lower and upper berth sleeper seats built on single-axle Ashok Leyland, Tata and Eicher chassis with a white livery. It is a long-distance service operating out of Kitturu Karnataka (Northwestern Karnataka) except Bijapur district.
• Airavat Club Class: It is an AC luxury bus service with 2+2 reclining seats built on a multi-axle Volvo, Scania and Mercedes-Benz chassis with a white livery. It is a long-distance service operating out of Kitturu Karnataka (Northwestern Karnataka) except Bijapur district.^[5]
• Ambaari Class: It is an AC luxury bus service with 2+1 lower and upper berth sleeper seats built on a single-axle Corona chassis with a white livery. It is a long-distance service operating out of Kitturu Karnataka (Northwestern Karnataka) except Bijapur district.

Former Services

• Meghdooth Class: It is an AC luxury bus service with 2+2 reclining seats built on a single-axle Ashok Leyland chassis with a dark blue-white livery. It is a long-distance service operating out of Kitturu Karnataka (Northwestern Karnataka) except Bijapur district. This service was replaced with Sheethal Class.
• Sheethal Class: It is an AC luxury bus service with 2+2 reclining seats built on a single-axle Ashok Leyland chassis with a green livery. It is a long-distance service operating out of Kitturu Karnataka (Northwestern Karnataka) except Bijapur district. This service was replaced with Airavat Gold Class.
• Vaibhav Class: It is a non-AC semi-deluxe bus service with 2+2 reclining seats with less reclining compared to Rajahamsa Executive Class built on a single-axle Ashok Leyland chassis with a green livery. It is a long-distance service operating out of Kitturu Karnataka (Northwestern Karnataka) except Bijapur district. Currently defunct.
• Airavat Gold Class It is an AC luxury bus service with 2+2 reclining seats built on a multi-axle Volvo chassis with a yellow livery. It is a long-distance service operating out of Kitturu Karnataka (Northwestern Karnataka) except Bijapur district. Rebranded and merged with Airavat Club Class.

'Shakti Scheme' Free Bus Service for women

'Shakti Scheme' was announced by the Second Siddaramaiah ministry on 2 June 2023. It started on 11 June 2023, providing free-of-charge bus service to Karnataka domicile women. Beneficiaries show their government-issued photo identity and address proof for the first three months. Bus conductors will issue them zero-fare tickets Thereafter, beneficiaries will have to obtain Shakti smartcards (named after the name of the scheme) through an application process on the government's Seva Sindhu website.^[6]

Terms and conditions of the scheme

• The scheme will apply to all four Road Transport Corporations in the state (KSRTC, BMTC, NWKRTC and KKRTC).
• Nagara Sarige, Gramantara Sarige, Karnataka Sarige, Vayvya Nagara Sarige, Vayavya Gramantara Sarige, Vayavya Karnataka Sarige, Kalyana Nagara Sarige, Kalyana Gramantara Sarige, Kalyana Karnataka Sarige, Bengaluru Sarige, Samparka and Astra services will be part of the scheme.
• Women can travel for free only on bus services within the state. Bus services to destinations outside Karnataka will be outside the scheme's purview even if women travel within the state. For example, a woman travelling to Belagavi in Karnataka i.e., within the state on a Hubli-Kolhapur bus service which is an interstate service to Kolhapur in neighbouring Maharashtra, then the woman passenger will have to buy a ticket.
• The scheme will not apply to luxury buses (Rajahamsa Executive Class, Airavat Class, Airavat Club Class, Pallakki Class, Amoghavarsha Class, Ambaari Class, Ambaari Dream Class, Ambaari Utsav Class, Kalyana Ratha Class, Fly Bus, EV- Power Plus+, Bengaluru Darshini, Vajra and Vayu Vajra services).
• Half of the seats on KSRTC, NWKRTC and KKRTC's ordinary and express buses will be reserved for men. Luxury, AC and interstate buses as well as BMTC buses will be exempted from this.
• The government will reimburse the RTCs based on the distance women travel.

Karnataka's Road Transport Undertakings

• KSRTC, Bangalore: Operates out of Southern Karnataka.
• NWKRTC, Hubli: Operates out of North-Western Karnataka except Bijapur district.
• KKRTC, Gulbarga: Operates out of North-Eastern Karnataka and Bijapur district.
• BMTC, Bangalore: Operates in Bangalore Metropolitan Region offering transit service.

Namma Cargo Logistics and Parcel Services

Namma Cargo Logistics and Parcel Services was launched on 26 February 2021. It provides cargo and parcel services on the routes in which the KSRTC, NWKRTC and KKRTC buses travel.^[7]