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PMPML begins identifying routes for double-decker buses
Pune district guardian minister Chandrakant Patil on Monday held a review meeting with various officials and instructed them to start double-decker buses in the city soon
The Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) has decided to operate double-decker buses on non-BRTS and other routes where metro works are not in progress. The feasibility study for the same has already been initiated, and the public transport body plans to acquire these double-decker buses soon.
Pune district guardian minister Chandrakant Patil on Monday held a review meeting with various officials and instructed them to start double-decker buses in the city soon. Patil also asked the PMPML to start identifying the routes where double-decker buses would run in the city. “Before starting double-decker buses in the city, the administration must consider the trees and infrastructure work in the city,” he said.
Earlier in its December 28, 2022 edition, the Hindustan Times had reported the PMPML’s decision to re-introduce double-decker buses in Pune owing to long pending demand from commuters.
About the PMPML’s preparedness, chairman and managing director (CMD) Omprakash Bakoria on Tuesday said, “The PMPML has already initiated the feasibility study for operating double-decker buses in the city. The demand for the same has come from commuters.”
“I have instructed the traffic department to conduct a detailed study. We are expecting to get the report soon. Right now, the PMPML does not have double-decker buses in its fleet but we will take them on rent or purchase them for some routes on a pilot basis. It is believed that double-decker buses will help accommodate more commuters during peak hours,” Bakoria said.
The PMPML CMD had earlier instructed PMPML senior officials to contact BEST Mumbai officials with regard to double-decker bus operations. “We are considering to start double-decker buses on non-BRTS rotes as it is not possible for them to run on BRTS corridors. We are also considering the metro works and metro crossings on main roads while starting the operations,” Bakoria said.
Passengers had been demanding that double-decker bus services be started in view of the existing buses going jam-packed during peak hours and causing delays. Double-decker buses can accommodate a greater number of passengers per bus. In the early 90s, the then Pune Municipal Transport (PMT) had started double-decker bus services in Pune which ran largely between Shivajinagar and Nigdi as most companies were located along that route.
