Delhi govt takes over city Metro’s feeder bus service

The Delhi Cabinet on Tuesdaydecided to run the 100 e-buses of the Delhi Metro, and adding 380 more buses by 2023, on the feeder routes that connect several areas to Metro stations.

The Delhi government will soon take over the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) electric feeder bus fleet to strengthen the last mile connectivity, officials aware of the move said on Tuesday.

DMRC says at present, 86 e-feeder buses were being run in north and east Delhi, with another 14 to be procured before handing them over to the transport department. (HT Archive)

The Delhi Cabinet on Tuesdaydecided to run the 100 e-buses of the Delhi Metro, and adding 380 more buses by 2023, on the feeder routes that connect several areas to Metro stations.

DMRC says at present, 86 e-feeder buses were being run in north and east Delhi, with another 14 to be procured before handing them over to the transport department. These buses will be now be run by the Transport department through Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS), officials said, and added that there will be no change in the bus routes.

Six more stations have been identified for the additional 380 e-buses. These stations are Welcome, Kohat Enclave, Rithala, Nangloi, Mundka and Dwarka.

“DMRC will be constructing the bus depots at these locations. The transport department shall operate all these feeder buses on a per kilometre basis which means the operators will be paid by the distance covered by them during the day,” said an official who asked not to be named.

The proposal was part of the recommendations by the Route Rationalization Study conducted by the transport department.

Delhi transport minister Shri Kailash Gahlot said, “With a good response received from the implementation of the pilot of Route Rationalization Study, these new smaller electric feeder buses will further boost the last mile connectivity from Metro stations. A comprehensive study helped us to understand the actual origin and destination of the bus commuters in the city, which led to designing of new routes to provide better frequency of buses in the required areas. We are also ensuring that all new buses being added in the city are electric in a bid to make our public transport completely pollution free.”