PUNE: The stalemate over the Katraj-Swargate Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) corridor continued into the New Year, with neither the civic body nor PMPML agreeing on when to start the oft-delayed service.
Pune Municipal Corporation said it has handed over the lane to Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML), which refused to start the service on an “incomplete” corridor and said it would first focus on trial runs to ensure passenger safety.
Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol stated earlier this week that the service would start on January 1. Come Friday, nothing changed — private vehicles were running on the corridor has they had done for the past few years.
On Friday, V Kulkarni, head of PMC’s road department told TOI they had handed over the corridor to the transport body. “PMPML can start BRTS operations on Friday. We have not installed automated doors at the bus stops, but completed all other preparations,” Kulkarni said.
“We cannot accept anything that is incomplete,” PMPML chairman and managing director Rajendra Jagtap said, adding, “We just cannot start the service without ensuring passenger safety on the corridor. For that, we need to conduct comprehensive test runs.”
On Thursday one bus took a test run on the corridor in the presence of senior PMPML and PMC officials. On Friday, a few more buses had test runs.
“We also need footpaths to allow commuters to safely enter and exit the corridor. We expect the trial runs to continue for a while. We will take this opportunity and make a note of the shortcomings, if any, and submit a report to the PMC. We will allow the regular service to start only after these problems are fixed,” Jagtap further said.
The lack of automated doors at bus stops along the 5km corridor has been a sticking point. On Tuesday, TOI had reported that the officials were considering temporary fixes — grilles or shutters — to start the service as early as next week.