This story is from October 15, 2019

AC buses to boost Delhi Metro Rail Corporation feeder service

The rickety feeder bus service of Delhi Metro is soon going to be replaced by a fleet of air-conditioned electric midi buses. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has floated tenders for 100 electric buses, for which it will receive assistance under the Centre’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles-2 (FAME-2) scheme.
AC buses to boost Delhi Metro Rail Corporation feeder service
Though DMRC plans to induct 422 feeder buses, at the moment, it has floated tenders for 100 electric buses.
NEW DELHI: The rickety feeder bus service of Delhi Metro is soon going to be replaced by a fleet of air-conditioned electric midi buses. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has floated tenders for 100 electric buses, for which it will receive assistance under the Centre’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles-2 (FAME-2) scheme.
Though DMRC plans to induct 422 feeder buses, at the moment, it has floated tenders for 100 electric buses.
The 100 buses will be divided into two clusters — east and north — with 50 buses each. The successful bidder will have to procure, operate and maintain these midi AC electric buses. The tender also includes the development of bus depot infrastructure for repair and maintenance of buses on land or plot provided by DMRC. The depot for east cluster will be created at Shastri Park and the one for north at Majlis Park.
DMRC has been planning a major overhaul of its feeder bus services and that is why it had floated tenders last year to introduce air-conditioned feeder buses that will be electric and CNG-run. The earlier tenders, however, were discharged and DMRC has now floated tenders again and plans to induct only electric buses.
The 422 electric feeder buses in the first phase will be divided into five clusters — East, West, North, South and Central — to operate on 47 routes that have been approved by the State Transport Authority. The proposed depots are planned to be created at Punjabi Bagh, Shadipur, Nangloi, INA, Mohan Estate, Jhilmil, Shastri Park, Majlis Park, Kohat Enclave and Kashmere Gate. DMRC plans to eventually induct a total of 905 feeder buses to cater to the increasing demand for dependable and comfortable last-mile connectivity.
The electric midi buses DMRC plans to procure will have a low-floor height of 400mm and be able to seat 23 to 34 passengers. At present, DMRC’s feeder bus services are rickety and their number, at just 174, is way short of the demand. More than 2 lakh passengers use Delhi Metro’s feeder services every day.
The buses will have GPS and CCTV cameras but no conductors as commuters will be able to travel by using metro smart cards. With only smart card holders allowed to use the services, DMRC will be able to ensure that only metro travellers are using the service.
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