The Hindu : Front Page : CNG buses hit the road in State

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Tuesday, Jul 17, 2007
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CNG buses hit the road in State

Special Correspondent

Chief Minister, Transport Minister travel a short distance in the bus

PHOTO : P.V. Sivakumar

DRIVING AHEAD: Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy flagging off the first CNG-driven APSRTC bus from the Assembly in Hyderabad on Monday. —

HYDERABAD: Public transport buses with environment-friendly compressed natural gas (CNG) as fuel have hit the road in Andhra Pradesh for the first time in south India.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy flagged off three CNG buses of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation bound for Vijayawada in the Assembly premises here on Monday. Dr. Reddy later boarded one of them to travel a short distance along with Transport Minister Kanna Laxminarayana and senior RTC officials. The APSRTC said it proposed to operate 95 new CNG buses in Vijayawada by the year-end. M/s. Bhagyanagar Gas Limited (BGL) would supply CNG from a filling station to be set up at Vidyadharapurm depot of RTC in Vijayawada.

The RTC also planned to operate five CNG buses in Hyderabad with the help of mobile cascades to be provided by BGL. The fleet would be increased when the CNG supply was stepped up. The dedicated CNG chassis have a capacity to fill 84 kg of fuel.

Ashok Leyland, manufacturer of the chassis, in a release said it had organised training sessions for drivers and mechanics of RTC recently. The CNG buses were fitted with fuel-efficient engines and gearboxes that ensured smooth ride. Over 3,500 buses manufactured by it plied in New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Agra and Haryana.

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