After a delay of several months, the country’s first air-conditioned double-decker electric bus was on Monday inducted into the fleet of civic transport public body BEST in Mumbai, officials said.
wet leash e-bus Will be registered with the Regional Transport Office before coming on the road for the public. The bus is likely to ply in the suburbs on routes where conventional double decker buses run on diesel currently operate.
Lokesh Chandra, general manager of the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking, said that they are going to get 4-5 more double-decker air-conditioned e-buses in the next 8-10 days, taking the total to 20 such buses. before March-end from Switch Mobility, a subsidiary of automobile maker Ashok Leyland. He said that by the end of this year the number of double decker e-buses would reach 200.
Chandra said, “Today is a historic moment. Mumbai’s iconic double decker bus is being introduced into public service in the new electric double decker form. Very soon this bus will be dedicated to the public.” Traditional double decker bus routes in South Mumbai and the city’s suburbs.
Unlike the conventional double-decker versions, the new e-bus has two doors and an equal number of stairs to access the upper deck. The new buses will be equipped with features like digital ticketing, CCTV cameras, live tracking, digital displays and panic buttons for emergencies.
The fare for these buses will be the same as applicable for single decker AC buses.
According to BEST, the passenger carrying capacity of double decker e-buses is almost twice that of their single decker counterparts. The new buses have a seating capacity of 65 and can carry 90 to 100 passengers including standing passengers.
The county’s prototype air-conditioned e-bus was unveiled by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in Mumbai on August 17, 2022 after BEST plans to introduce double-decker e-buses in public service from October 2022 after completing the certification and registration process. was announced. ,
Switch Mobility officials said the delay in certification was mainly due to the Centre’s revised certification process.
As the certification was received from the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), the line production of the double-decker e-buses will be carried out at a workshop in Patalganga, Raigad district of Maharashtra.
Currently, BEST operates less than 50 double-decker buses, including a few open-deck buses, which run on diesel. Most of these buses are nearing the end of their codal life (normal average life of the machine/equipment as per working shift). Therefore, BEST has decided to introduce double decker e-buses on wet lease, wherein the maintenance and driver expenses of the vehicles are borne by the private operators.
Chandra said BEST currently has 3,300 buses, including 400 single-decker e-buses, which carry about 34 lakh passengers daily. BEST plans to add 3,000 more e-buses, including 900 double-decker e-buses, to its fleet and has awarded contracts.