Ghaziabad needs 150 e-buses, say UPSRTC officials

Officials of the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) have estimated that Ghaziabad city should be allocated 150 low-floor air-conditioned electric buses (e-buses) even as they said that the state is about to receive 2,000 e-buses in the next few months

Officials of the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) have estimated that Ghaziabad city should be allocated 150 low-floor air-conditioned electric buses (e-buses) even as they said that the state is about to receive 2,000 e-buses in the next few months.

Ghaziabad, India, September, 12 2022: An electric bus is seen on the Dasna bridge road, plying from Kaushambi to Muradnagar, in Ghaziabad, India on Monday, September 12. 2022. (Photo by Sakib Ali /Hindustan Times)

Officials added that the state administration asked the estimated number of e-bus requirements for the city.

Ghaziabad city at present has a fleet of 30 e-buses which have been in operation on three routes – Kaushambi to Modinagar, Loni to Old Bus Stand and Dilshad Garden to Masuri.

Ghaziabad city is one of the seven cities in UP, which have been provided with e-buses. The city will receive 50 e-buses in the first phase and the fare has been fixed from ₹10 to ₹40. Incidentally, it will be the first state-run transport service for city commuters.

“The state administration has informed us that UP will receive 2,000 e-buses shortly and they have also asked us about our requirements. We estimate that Ghaziabad will require around 150 e-buses for different routes. At present, we are running 30 e-buses and they are run on limited routes. Once we receive written communication from the state officials, we will send them our requirement for 150 e-buses,” said AK Singh, UPSRTC regional manager.

In August 2019, the department of heavy industries approved 5,595 e-buses to 64 cities, state governments and state transport undertakings for intra and inter-city operations in a bid to reduce carbon emission. UP got 600 e-buses and 50 of them were allocated to Ghaziabad.

In October last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off 75 e-buses under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (Fame) scheme for seven cities, including Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Jhansi and Ghaziabad.

Ghaziabad city at present is highly dependent on services of about 16,000 shared autos which ferry a lion’s share of passengers.

“The government should speed up procurement of e-buses so that the city gets the required buses for a state-run public transport system. However, officials must also estimate a rise in vehicles on roads and chalk out measures to control the number of vehicles. Otherwise, there will be a lot of traffic issues and air pollution will also rise,” said Akash Vashishtha, a Ghaziabad-based environmentalist.