New Delhi – We can soon see a new development in Delhi with a fleet of electric buses going around the city. The minister of transport Kailash Gahlot on Monday shared a picture of the first model of the electric bus that has already made its entry in the national capital just few days back.
Gahlot wrote on Twitter, “Congrats Delhi! After a long wait, prototype of DTC’s first 100% Electric bus has reached Delhi! Hon’ble CM @ArvindKejriwal will soon flag off this Electric bus”.
These first set of the new electric buses are going to be introduced for mass public transport in the coming month that is February 2022.
Read also: K’taka switches to ‘electric mode’, to run 1,500 e-buses in next 3 years
At present, Delhi has a fleet of 6,973 buses and it can be noted that the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and 3,033 buses are run by the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) Limited via the Delhi state transport department.
These electric buses, which are also called e-buses had actually their delivery to start in November last year to be given to the DTC. However, it was postponed because of several reasons and one of which is the coronavirus pandemic.
These low-floor buses will have the hydraulic lifts to allow the passengers on the wheelchair to board the bus. Interestingly, they will also have GPS trackers, panic buttons and CCTV cameras as their features. You can expect more amazing features for the same.
The prototype bus that came on Sunday is presently being checked by the state transport department and the vehicle manufacturing company JBM Auto Limited.
In total, there are 2,300 electric buses which are in the making. Out of these 2,300 buses, you can soon see 1,300 buses to be taken by the DTC and the remaining 1,000 will work under the cluster scheme.
The cluster electric buses may take almost anothe six months to he launched. Gahlot shared on Monday how the e-buses will be added in batches of about 50 each month after they are introduced next month. The state government of Delhi will ensure to keep up bus depots with charging stations so that the e-buses can be rolled out in a phased manner.
Read also: Mumbai switches to Electric Buses
The DTC will also develop 4 hybrid bus depots that are a mix of CNG and electric buses which will be placed in Subhash Place depot, Rajghat depot, Hasanpur depot and Bawana.
