CHENNAI: The Maintenance Department of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) will have fewer men and more machines in the days to come.

The corporation is aiming at cutting down labour cost by introducing mechanised systems wherever possible.

MTC Managing Director R. Balasubramanian said on Friday that there had been no recruitment in the department for the last five years.

"This certainly does not mean that there will not be any in future, but we are aiming at cutting down the labour cost. We are doing away with manual lubrication of engines by introducing buses with auto-lubrication systems. Already, we have tried it on 50 buses. We are going to introduce it in more number of buses. It will mean that we can manage with fewer mechanics in night attendance," he said. Modern bus washing machines will be installed in all the depots, he noted.

"We have been using some of these machines for sometime now, but they are old models. Now, we are going to acquire latest models," he said. Even air filling would be automatised after the introduction of "Automatic Cut Off System" by which the amount of air that got into the tyres could be monitored.

The pilot project of Global Positioning System undertaken by the International Institute of Information Technology was nearing completion, Mr. Balasubramanian said. On Board Units would be fitted in 50 buses on routes 21G and 70, and would be monitored from the control room at the MTC head quarters. Digital display units, to be installed at bus stops, would show the route number and arrival time for the passengers' convenience.

"Though GPS has already been launched in Bangalore, the technology adopted varies. Here, we will be able to reduce the operational costs by leasing lines from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. One-to-one communication network can be established between the control room and the driver," he explained.

Mr. Balasubramanian also said that the new buses introduced by the MTC would have an electronic monitoring system by which any defect in the unit could be found by connecting the engine to a computer.

"We are planning to buy laptop computers for this purpose," Mr. Balasubramanian said.

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