BANGALORE: The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) which has gained laurels for being one of the best public transport undertakings in the country this year, has planned to add around 825 new buses to its fleet this year.
“Around 825 buses will be added this year, of which 450 are replacements for older buses, which are phasing out. One hundred of them are volvo buses,” said M P Prabhudas, chief traffic manager, Operations, BMTC.
He also mentioned that these buses had run 7.5 lakh kilometers and some had even crossed 10 lakh kilometers after reconditioning. According to BMTC officials, the phased out buses will be scrapped and sold in auctions. This process is expected to start next year after the delivery of the new buses is completed.
However, other sources said that only 185 buses of the 825 have been delivered so far. This includes 179 regular buses, 6 Volvo buses and 1 Karuna bus.
“The body building process is currently going on and the buses will be ready by March 31,” said a BMTC official. With a balance of 640 buses yet to be delivered to the BMTC within a time frame of two months, it remains to be seen if the corporation will be able to meet its targets for the year.