Technical flaws delay induction of 160 buses into CTU fleet

The cost of buses is around Rs 85 crore, out of which 50 per cent is being funded by the Central government under JNNURM and the remaining by the Chandigarh Administration.

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The sanctioned buses were to be inducted by November 2015, but their induction has been delayed due to technical flaws in 11 buses, which were delivered in the first lot in October 2015.

The technical team of CTU highlighted around 20 defects in the buses such as lack of emergency braking system, cracks in the body of buses, side glasses not fitted properly resulting in water leakage, engine of buses not insulated properly, passenger seats not as per specification, gaps in doors and noisy AC compressors.

A special team of experts constituted by CTU carried out inspection of the remaining buses last week before taking the delivery and spotted similar defects in the buses.

Director (transport) Amit Talwar said that they had directed the company to rectify the flaws and deliver the buses at the earliest. “The delivery of buses is behind schedule, but our main priority is to get buses without any flaws,” he added.

CTU Workers’ Union president Bhupinder Singh said that the union was not in favour of these buses. “They are not only having multiple flaws but are also more expensive than buses of same specification manufactured by other companies,” he said.

As per official figures, CTU has a fleet of 470 buses which are operating from its four depots. The fleet comprises standard size buses, semi-low floor non-AC buses, AC buses, low-floor AC buses, low-floor non-AC buses and mini-AC buses. Out of the total buses, 87 are being used for long routes while the remaining buses are used for city bus service which serve the Tricity of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali, and suburban areas like Zirakpur and Kharar.