60 new buses purchased by Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) are ready to run on the roads in Chandigarh on Tuesday. The operation of these buses will open the way for better connectivity to Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and other neighboring states. Many new routes will be started, which will directly benefit the people.
Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator Gulabchand Kataria flagged off these buses on Tuesday at a program organized at ISBT-17. These 60 buses will run on 31 routes. Many of which are new and the number of buses has been increased on some old routes. The trial run on these routes has been successful.
Passengers will get many facilities
CTU has specially prepared these new AC buses keeping in mind the demand for long routes. These buses will operate from Chandigarh to many popular destinations as well as many other new routes. According to officials, these buses will provide more comfort and facilities to the passengers. Facilities like modern AC system, comfortable seats and mobile charging port will be available in these buses. Apart from this, GPS tracking system has also been installed in every bus, so that passengers can get real-time information about the location of the buses.
Travel will be comfortable in less time
CTU Director Pradyuman Singh says that the new buses will not only be comfortable for the passengers but will also reduce the travel time. Tourists and local passengers traveling in hilly areas will now be able to reach their destination quickly and comfortably with these new AC buses. Let us tell you that these new buses of Chandigarh Transport Undertaking will replace the old 60 buses of Depot Number-1
100 e-buses can come in the next 4-5 months
CTU has signed an agreement with PMI for 100 e-buses of 12 meter ultra low floor. These buses will replace 100 diesel buses of Depot Number-4. These buses will be run on kilometer basis. For which CTU will pay Rs 61.80. In this, a subsidy of Rs 24 per km will be received from the Central Government. Currently, 80 electric buses are running on the city roads.
Agreement with two companies for e-buses
They have been brought under the FAME India scheme of the Central Government. The Central Government has given a subsidy of Rs 45 lakh per bus to Chandigarh. But now the model of giving subsidy has been changed. Now the Center will give a subsidy of Rs 24 per km. Currently, an agreement has been signed with two companies for 80 e-buses in 40-40. An agreement was signed with Ashok Leyland for 154.01 crore for 10 years for the first 40 buses and in February 2022, an agreement was signed with Volvo-Eicher for 115.44 crore for 10 years for the other 40 buses. CTU is paying Rs 44.99 per kilometer to Volvo-Eicher.
