Chandigarh: 1 electric bus arrives, 19 more to come next month
One electric bus has already arrived in the city and the remaining 19 in the first phase will arrive in September-end. This one bus will be operated on trial.
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In August this year, Chandigarh's first electric bus — Proto Bus — had been flagged off by the administration to run on a trial basis. (Representational)From October, Chandigarh will see a fleet of 40 electric buses running on city roads.
One electric bus has already arrived in the city and the remaining 19 in the first phase will arrive in September-end. This one bus will be operated on trial.
These are all non-polluting buses which are going to be operated by a private firm. Once charged, the bus can cover a distance of 130 kilometres. It will take around two hours and a half to charge the bus.
It was in the month of September 2020 that the Centre had sanctioned as many as 80 electric buses for Chandigarh. This was under phase II of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India scheme. Chandigarh had floated tenders for 40 buses in phase I.
For the last over five years, UT has been trying to get these electric buses. Trials have taken place earlier as well. Two UT officers had gone to China to see the buses. The six-day trip by Transport Secretary Ajay Singla and Transport Director Uma Shankar Gupta was undertaken. The duo spent three days in Shanghai and then three days in Shenzen.
It was said that Shangai has about 6,000 buses that have been running for the last 15-odd years and Shenzen has about 17,000 buses.
It was in August 2017 that the trial of electric buses for 15 days was held in Chandigarh. The trial was jointly carried out by the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) and the State Transport Department. During the trial, weight of about 1,750 kg was loaded in the buses and an 11-member team was constituted to prepare a report prepared regarding its pros and cons.
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