The Hindu : New Delhi News : DTC to launch 25 new AC buses in August

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Thursday, Apr 26, 2007
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New Delhi

DTC to launch 25 new AC buses in August

P. Anima

Bid to woo car users towards public transport system

NEW DELHI: Twenty-five sleek air-conditioned, low-floor, disabled-friendly buses will start plying on the Capital's roads by August this year. Tata Motors will manufacture these buses for the Delhi Transport Corporation.

The air-conditioned buses are part of DTC's attempt to woo people, especially car users, to avail themselves of the public transport system. The Corporation is set to replace its fleet by the 2010 Commonwealth Games and these 25 air-conditioned buses along with 500 new non-air-conditioned ones will mark the beginning of the fleet replacement. Tata Motors will be manufacturing the 500 non-air-conditioned buses too.

"The Corporation has placed orders for 25 air-conditioned buses on a pilot basis from the lowest bidder, which was Tata Motors," said a senior DTC official. The manufacturer will also be responsible for maintenance of the vehicles until 7.5-lakh km journey.

"The DTC will be providing only the bus crew and CNG," said the official.

All the 25 buses will be placed in one depot and the bus crew will also undergo special training.

"These buses are meant to be an alternative for the private car and taxi users," the official said. The buses will have many special features that apart from being low-floor and disabled-friendly will also have a rear engine, pneumatic doors, tubeless tires, air suspension and automatic transmission.

"Additional features of the air-conditioned buses will be engines with a horsepower of 250 compared with 230 in the non-air-conditioned buses. It will also have air curtains to prevent cool air from going out and warm air from coming in when the doors are opened," the official said.

The special routes on which the buses will ply are being identified. The buses will have limited stops.

But the comfort of the air-conditioned buses will come at a slightly higher cost compared with the fare of the non-air-conditioned buses.

"A suitably higher fare will be suggested which will be value for money yet economical for the commuters," said the official.

About the routes on which these buses are going to ply, the official added: "A traffic demand survey is being conducted to assess the areas where such buses will be best suited and areas with higher paying capacity will also be identified."

Though the DTC had intended to purchase 125 air-conditioned buses, the number was cut down considering the huge costs involved. As per the tender, the cost is estimated at Rs. 67 lakh per bus.

The DTC has also sought the purchase of 300 diesel buses that are Euro 3-compliant to replace the fleet on inter-State routes, the tender for which will be floated on Government approval.

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