Delhi to get 9,000 new buses by next year: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said 9,000 buses in total will be deployed within the next one year in the national capital as he flagged off 100 new low floor AC buses.

The buses, flagged-off from Rajghat Depot in the presence of Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, are equipped with ultra-modern facilities and state-of-the-art features like fire detection systems, remote monitoring systems, GPS trackers, panic buttons, CCTV, and hydraulic lifts and wheelchair ramps for the convenience of the differently-abled.

Speaking at the inauguration, Kejriwal said the city will get 9,000 additional buses and his government is working in the direction of revolutionising Delhi's transportation system.

"I want to congratulate the people of Delhi that 100 new low-floor AC buses have been flagged off on the roads of the national capital. We were hearing claims that the buses were only flagged off because of the elections, but I want to say that the buses are being deployed even after the elections. The Delhi government is going to deploy 9,000 buses on the roads of the national capital within the next year," the Chief Minister said.

While sharing his vision for transport sector in Delhi, Kejriwal said he will turn the transport sector in Delhi into a model and modern sector.

"Following the elections, I have held meetings with the transport department, and we are working in the direction of revolutionizing the transport sector in Delhi. The tender for electronic buses has also been passed and new electronic buses will be procured by the end of March."

The buses are 37-seater and all have hydraulic lifts for the convenience of differently-abled.

Also, 14 panic buttons have been installed inside the bus -- seven each side. CCTV cameras have been installed inside the bus.

The buses have fire detection and suppression system.

The 100 buses will ply on 16 different routes across the city, with maximum number (nine) running between Sultanpuri Terminal to Kendriya Terminal.

These buses were manufactured by JBM Auto Ltd. run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).

"This low floor CNG AC bus service has been rolled out under the cluster scheme for the first time in Delhi and will be in service today onwards," Nishant Arya, Executive Director, JBM Group company told IANS.

He said a total of 400 buses will be deployed in various phases across the city.

"A total of 250 buses, including the 100 flagged off, will be on road by March-end," he added while speaking to IANS.

Arya said the buses focus on women safety and are equipped with CCTV cameras along with panic and safety button.

"The buses also have mobile charging facility and cantilever mounted seats facilitating more storage space."

Arya said dedicated pink colour seats have been provisioned for women passengers in these buses.

While the AC buses were only in the DTC buses, Arya said the government decided to include that in the cluster scheme as it wanted to give more facilities to the commuters.

"Hence the idea for AC buses under cluster scheme came up," Arya added. IANS