APSRTC Vijayawada division seeks power lines for charging electric buses
VIJAYAWADA: The officials of APSRTC Vijayawada division wrote a letter to the electricity department seeking its assistance to provide 5,400 KV capacity power lines to the two bus depots in the region in order to set up battery charging stations for electric buses. According to APSRTC officials, the Central government has sanctioned 350 electric buses to the Corporation as part of the second phase of FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India).
Out of the total, 100 buses have been allotted to Visakhapatnam, 100 to Vijayawada and 50 each to Amaravati, Kakinada and Tirupati. On September 26, the RTC invited tenders for introducing electric buses on a gross cost contract basis for a period of 12 years. A few months ago, former vice-chairman and managing director NV Surendra Babu conducted a ground-level inspection of the bus depots in Krishna district and decided to set up charging stations at Vidyadharapuram and Gannavaram.
As part of the initiative, the officials also designed a preliminary route map for plying the buses within the city and suburban operations onroutes such as Gannavaram, Pamarru, Hanuman Junction, Guntur, Amaravati, Mylavaram and Vissannapeta.
‘’A week ago, the higher authorities in the Corporation, accompanied by APSPDCL officials conducted inspections at Gannavaram and Vidyadharapuram bus depots to find suitable locations for laying the electric poles and provide power supply from the nearby substation,’’ a senior RTC official said to TNIE on condition of anonymity.
He further said that the RTC submitted an application to the electricity department for power transmission through high tension wires. “It may take at least a month to get a clear picture about the capacities and estimates required for laying the power lines,” he concluded.