1,000 low-floor AC cluster buses soon in Delhi

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government will soon induct 1,000 low floor and mostly air-conditioned buses under the cluster scheme. A note on the procurement of these buses will be put up in the next meeting of Delhi cabinet, state transport minister Kailash Gahlot said.
“We will float tenders for 1,000 low floor, CNG-run buses by end of November. About 80% of these buses will be air-conditioned,” Gahlot said. He said that the first batch of buses as part of these tenders will start rolling out in the next six months.

This is apart from the 1,000 standard floor buses the government is bringing under the cluster scheme, 1,000 low floor electric run buses and 1,000 standard floor buses to be brought by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC).

As per the government’s own estimates, Delhi needs a fleet of 11,000 buses while the actual number of buses on roads is around 5,500. The government hopes to meet the shortfall partially by 2019, with the buses being procured under different tenders starting to roll out. Gahlot said that by mid-2019, at least 800 new buses would be added to Delhi’s public transport fleet. He said that the government plans to run buses at a frequency of four to five minutes on trunk routes in the city by next year.

Gahlot said that new clusters would be created for the 1,000 low floor buses the government now plans to procure. He said that the routes on which these buses would operate is being studied. “Each new cluster will have 200 to 250 buses in it,” he said.

The transport department made a presentation before the Delhi council of ministers, in which the various projects being undertaken by the department and the plan to procure buses was showcased.

Gahlot said that the government is going to sign agreements with all concessionaires of 1,000 standard floor cluster buses this month. “It is just like placing orders for buses,” he said. The government had recently given letters of acceptance to concessionaires under the cluster model. These buses will be equipped with hydraulic lifts so that differently abled and infirm passengers can easily access them.

Gahlot also said that the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS), which is studying the feasibility of operating electric run buses in the city, will be observing the performance of the electric bus that is operating on a trial basis in the city as part of its report.

“The report on electric buses will be submitted by November-end and by December 20, we expect to float tenders for 1,000 electric run buses,” Gahlot said. He said five depots in Delhi have been identified where the electric buses can be charged and maintained.