Blueline buses to be back on Delhi roads from October 25

From next Monday (October 25) the Blueline buses, 1,600 of which were taken off roads in Luytens' Delhi and south Delhi, will be back.

From next Monday (October 25) the Blueline buses, 1,600 of which were taken off roads in Luytens' Delhi and south Delhi, will be back.

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Senior transport department officials said they would come out with a public notice in this regard soon.

The transport department had ordered withdrawal of these buses from September 25 to October 17 from several central and south Delhi routes that either touched the Commonwealth Games venues or plied along the roads athletes and delegates moved along during their three-week stay in the Capital.

The department initially allowed these buses to come back on the road from October 20 but have now extended the date to October 25.

"Most regular passengers expressed their happiness and satisfaction that there were enough DTC buses in place of rickety Bluelines,” said a senior transport department official, requesting anonymity. "So we have decided to keep the Bluelines off the roads till a final decision is taken on what is to be done.”

Sources said the Delhi government was working on a proposal to completely phase out these roughly 1,600 buses.

"We have more than 6,000 buses in DTC's fleet now. We have never had so many buses in Delhi. And we are procuring more buses. We will now move court to allow us to phase out Bluelines, which have lost confidence among the commuters," Delhi transport minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said.

Sources said the transport department is planning to file an affidavit in the High Court on October 20 that the DTC has enough buses to replace Bluelines without inconveniencing commuters.

Private buses on one of the 16 clusters would also start coming by end of October and will supplement the DTC's fleet.

The Delhi High Court had stayed the government's move to phase out the Blueline buses in February this year arguing that the DTC alone was not capable to meet the requirement of public transport.

Senior transport department officials said the absence of Blueline buses not only decongested the roads but also lead to a decline in the number of road fatalities during the period.