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Chandigarh’s first electric bus hits the road, on trial basis
Will run on trial basis on the PGI-Manimajra route, via Madhya Marg, and the general public will have to wait till the first week of September to avail this facility.
UT administrator VP Singh Badnore flagged off Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU)’s first electric bus from Raj Bhawan on Wednesday and travelled to the Sector 17 police station, and thereafter to the India International Centre, Chandigarh.
As of now, the bus will run on trial basis on the PGI-Manimajra route, via Madhya Marg, and the general public will have to wait till the first week of September to avail this facility.
Nineteen more electric buses will be added to the fleet by September 30 and another 20 by October. The procurement of another 40 electric buses is under process and is expected to be received by next year.
The department of heavy industries, Government of India, has sanctioned 80 electric buses under Phase-II FAME India scheme.
For the first lot of 40 buses, an agreement has been signed with M/s Ashok Leyland for 10 years. The model of the contract is gross cost contract and scope of operator/company includes procurement of buses, installation of adequate number of chargers, maintenance of buses, providing of driver for 10 years. The fare collection will be done by the CTU.
The transport department has planned to replace all 358 diesel buses in the tricity with electric buses by 2027-2028.
Solar plant at police station
Badnore also inaugurated the solar power plants for 12 police establishments of UT, Chandigarh, at Sector-17 police station. These have been set up at a cost of ₹1.62 crore and each has a capacity of 325 kilowatts. These solar power plants will generate approximately 4,22,500 kwh (units) of electricity annually.
Badnore said the new solar power plants and electric bus have been introduced with an aim to reduce pollution and emission. The installations of solar power plants will help bring down the electricity bills by approximately by ₹20 lakhs annually. This will also turn police stations into green police stations, he said.
