Gzb gets 14 more e- buses, routes yet to be decided
GHAZIABAD: The district has received another set of 14 electric buses this week, raising the tally of the fleet to 44 such buses out of 50 allotted to the district.
“We have received another batch of 14 electric buses and we now have a total of 44 buses. The remaining six buses will also arrive in some time. The 14 buses will be deployed for passenger operations once the permits and registration numbers are allotted. Three new routes will be surveyed and once they are found feasible, the new buses will be deployed,” said AK Singh, regional manager of Uttar Pradesh state road transport corporation (UPSRTC).
In August 2019, the Centre’s department of heavy industries approved 5,595 electric buses to be deployed in 64 cities for intra and inter-city operations in a bid to reduce carbon emission. Uttar Pradesh was allotted 600 electric buses, 50 of them for Ghaziabad.
In October last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had flagged off 75 electric buses under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (Fame) scheme for seven cities, including Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Jhansi and Ghaziabad.
Ghaziabad at present has a fleet of 30 electric buses that have been in operation on three routes across the district – Kaushambi to Modinagar, Loni to
Old Bus Stand and Dilshad Garden to Masuri.
In the first phase of Fame scheme, Ghaziabad will receive 50 electric buses with the fare fixed at ₹10-₹40. It will be the first state-run transport service for Ghaziabad city commuters.
In September, officials had apprised state government officials that the city should be allocated 150 electric buses because the state is expected to get at least 2,000 more such buses.