Soon, travel from Delhi to Noida Airport on an AC electric bus

Speaking to The Indian Express, Transport Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh said the buses will ply from three locations in Delhi — Sarai Rohilla, Anand Vihar and Kamla Market in North Delhi. “Only electric buses will ply on this route. Also, the buses will not drop passengers at a location near the airport but will go to the airport terminal,” he said.

The distance from Delhi to Noida Airport is approximately 75-85 km.

Currently, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) provides bus services to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi. Besides, it also runs a few buses to Noida from Delhi on 12 routes up to Electronic City.

Singh added, “The MoU was signed today. Once operationalised, people living in Delhi will benefit a lot. Not only those going to the airport, but those going to Noida for work will also benefit a lot through this upcoming bus service.”

Initially, the government will launch the buses on a pilot basis to check how many people travel on this route daily. “After a month or two, more buses will be deployed for this route,” said the minister.

Besides, women can travel for free on this route under the ‘pink passes’ scheme but for male passengers, the ticket price may slightly increase. “The ticket price will be decided soon,” said officials.

Further, passes for differently abled persons will also be applicable on this route.

The buses will be fully air-conditioned, GPS enabled, and have panic buttons and fire extinguishers for the safety of passengers.

200 old buses to go off roads by month-end, 900 e-buses to be inducted

Further, the Transport Minister also held a meeting with the DTC, cluster bus services, and Transport Department to discuss phasing out old buses and strengthening the fleet.

“Several CNG buses under the DTC and cluster fleets are past their operational phase (they have crossed 15 years) and many of them are running after the AMC (annual maintenance contract) period. These buses will stop functioning from March 30. To ensure that the public doesn’t face problems with phasing out of the existing buses, the Transport Department is planning to induct 900 electric buses in a phased manner,” said the Minister.

According to officials, 2,400 such buses have crossed the 15-year period under the DTC, of which 200 will be removed by the month’s end. “Every month, a new lot of e-buses — 9-metre and 12-metre long — will arrive as the old buses are removed. The government has placed orders for inducting 1,000 buses. Delhi will not face a shortage of buses,” said Singh.

Further, the Minister said the department is also working to generate revenue through outletting spaces in the DTC bus depot, constructing new bus stands, and giving ad contracts in bus stands and other DTC properties. “Our aim is to bring DTC out of the revenue loss and make it profitable in the next year.”