2K passengers travel by MSRTC e-buses in 20 days, more charging stations to come up soon

PUNE Since inauguration of the electric bus service of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) on June 1 by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, it has elicited a good response with more than 2,000 passengers travelling by e-bus between Pune and Ahmednagar till date

PUNE Since inauguration of the electric bus service of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) on June 1 by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, it has elicited a good response with more than 2,000 passengers travelling by e-bus between Pune and Ahmednagar till date. On June 1, the deputy CM had inaugurated the service with two electric buses.

On June 1, the deputy CM had inaugurated the service with two electric buses.) (HT FILE PHOTO)

As per information given by the MSRTC, the ‘Shivai’ electric bus is currently running only between Pune and Ahmednagar. There is now demand to extend the e-bus service to other routes as well however as there are no electric charging stations at the other depots yet, there are problems in starting the service along other routes. In July, an additional 50 electric buses will be added to the Pune division fleet. Also, the service will be extended to the new routes of Solapur, Kolhapur and Aurangabad. The infrastructure needed to run these buses, including charging stations and maintenance and repair workshops, too, will be set up in these cities.

Ramakant Gaikwad, MSRTC Pune divisional controller, said, “In the last 20 days since the electric buses have started running from the Pune division, more than 2,000 passengers have travelled by them and they have appreciated the bus service. Currently, we only have two buses and they are being charged at one of the charging stations set up in the head office premises on Shankar Sheth road.”

Asked about increase in the number of charging stations, Gaikwad said, “Once we get more buses next month, the charging stations will also come up at some of our main ST depots in the Pune division. The budgetary allocations have also been made for the same by the head office.”

While passengers are quite happy with the electric bus service, Rohan Nalawade, a passenger who travelled by e-bus from Pune to Ahmednagar said, “Travelling by this new bus was a great experience. Better facilities have been provided inside the bus and that too at an affordable price. These buses should be extended to more routes from Pune.”

The MSRTC was formed on June 1, 1948 with the first bus being flagged off from Pune and running till Ahmednagar. Hence, the e-bus service, too, was inaugurated on the same day this year from Swargate by Ajit Pawar. Pawar announced that 3,000 e-buses would be procured for the state transport body on this occasion.