Delhi government take over DMRC e-buses
CHENNAI: In order to strengthen the last mile connectivity, the Delhi government will soon take over the existing Delhi Metro Rail Corporation ( DMRC) Electric bus fleet. Recently, the decision to take over the 100 existing e-bus fleets was made by the Cabinet. The transport department will also operate additional 380 feeder e-buses under the Transport department in 2023.
DMRC has been operating feeder e-buses in east and north clusters since December 2019, from Shastri Park and Majlis Park depots. These buses will be run by the transport department through Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS). In addition, for the operation of additional 380 electric buses, 6 stations have been identified – Welcome, Kohat Enclave, Rithala, Nangloi, Mundka and Dwarka. DMRC will be constructing the bus depots at these locations.
“The Transport Department shall operate all these feeder buses on a per kilometre basis which means the operators will be paid by the distance covered by them during the day,” said a senior official. The proposal comes as a part of the recommendation provided by the Route Rationalization Study conducted by the transport department. In Oct 2022, the first phase of the study was implemented with the standard (12 metres) buses operating across 26 new routes including Trunk (2), Central Business District (CBD) (3), Primary (18) and Airport routes (3) with a frequency of 5 to 20 mins during the peak hours.
The study recommended the use of Mini/Midi buses to operate in the areas where the 12-metre-long DTC and cluster buses can’t operate due to the smaller width of the road or the passenger load not being very high. To serve rural parts of Delhi and in these routes, operating smaller-size buses offers better financial sustainability and convenience to the commuters, connecting their areas to nearby transit hubs.
“With a good response received from the implementation of the pilot of Route Rationalisation Study, these new smaller size electric feeder buses will further boost the last mile connectivity for the people,” said Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot. The depots at these locations will be constructed by the DMRC. The Transport department will operate the feeder buses on a per-kilometre basis where operators will be paid on the basis of the distance covered during the day.
Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said, "Under the leadership of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi government is committed to making public transport more affordable, safer and convenient for its citizens."
Meanwhile, ETO Motors on Tuesday said the company has partnered with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to deploy women-driven electric auto rickshaws at metro stations in the capital. ETO Motors said the first set of 36 e-autos was flagged off from Azadpur metro station on Tuesday in presence of officials of the company and the DMRC. The company will add 100 more e-autos and develop charging hubs at Kalkaji, Uttam Nagar, Dwarka and Majlis Park metro stations, it said.