Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) is now going to buy 40 new non-AC diesel buses to provide relief to long distance passengers. For this, approval has been received from the Finance Department and the tender process will be started soon. These new buses will replace the 40 old diesel buses currently running, which will soon become condemned after completing their 15-year service period.
These new buses of CTU will run on major routes like Chandigarh to Delhi, Sirsa, Shimla, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jwalaji, Talwandi Sabo. According to officials, special attention will be given to the convenience of passengers in these buses. All buses will have modern facilities like comfortable seats, mobile charging points and GPS tracking system, so that passengers can also get information about the live location of the buses.
60 AC buses were started in January
It is worth noting that CTU had also launched 60 AC buses on the route in January this year, which are providing services to passengers in many places including Delhi, Sirsa, Narnaul via Rohtak, Shimla, Amritsar. Now the purchase of non-AC diesel buses will further improve the availability of buses on long distance routes.
On the other hand, the plan of 100 electric buses proposed for the local route is still pending awaiting the approval of the central government. The administration had sent an RFP (Request for Proposal) to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) one and a half months ago. Under this, 100 old diesel buses of Depot No. 4 are to be replaced, which will become condemned after completing 15 years from November 2025 to January 2026.
CTU also got subsidy approval for these 100 electric buses one and a half years ago under the PM e-Bus scheme of the Central Government. Officials went to Delhi and made a presentation to the ministry in this regard, but no response has come so far. Now the final approval from the ministry is awaited to issue the tender.
