The Delhi government unveiled its first electric bus in an effort to combat air pollution at Indraprastha’s depot on Monday.
Calling it an “important milestone”, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal flagged off the first electric bus of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), along with the presence of Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot.
To ease the transportation, the Delhi government has also finalised the routes of electric buses or e-buses that will be running in the 27-km long routes.
“Delhi Government’s pioneering initiative to combat air pollution in Delhi. Hon’ble CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal flags off the first 100% electric bus on the roads of Delhi. 300 electric buses will be added to the fleet in the coming days,” the CMO Delhi tweeted.
The pre-decided route of the electric buses will run till Pragati Maidan via ITO, Tilak Marg, Mandi House, Barakhamba Road, Connaught Place, Janpath, Rajesh Pilot Marg, Prithviraj Road, Arvindo Marg, Safdarjung, Ring Road, South Extension, Ashram, Bhogal, Jangpura, India Gate and High Court.
The electric buses started running from Monday from E-44 Indraprastha depot. The buses are manufactured by JBM Auto Limited. According to transport minister Kailash Gahlot, 50 more electric buses will be available by February and the e-buses will be added in batches of roughly 50 per month.
As many as 2,300 electric buses are to operate soon, out of which the DTC will purchase 1,300 while the remaining 1,000 will operate under the cluster scheme.
Moreover, the DTC will soon launch hybrid bus stops, namely Subhash Place depot, Rajghat depot, Hasanpur depot and Bawana, from where both the electric buses and the CNG buses will operate.
In July 2018, the plan to launch and operate electric buses in Delhi was announced and it has been expected that the Delhi government will procure only electric buses in the future.
The prototype bus will assist the Delhi government in determining how long the battery of these newly launched electric buses will last along with other technical issues.
However, the other buses will be added to the service only afterwards. The Delhi government will also gradually install charging stations for these electric buses in bus depots.
(With Agency Inputs)