Blueline kills one more; 1,000 of them to go, says govt

The Delhi government has finally decided to rein in the ‘killer’ Blueline buses.

The Delhi government has finally decided to rein in the ‘killer’ Blueline buses.

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Delhi transport minister Arvinder Singh Lovely convened a meeting at his residence on Saturday where a decision to phase out more than a 1,000 Blueline buses was taken.

The meeting was prompted by the death of a 22-year-old motorcyclist, Tarun Saini, who was allegedly run over by a speeding Blueline in southeast Delhi on Saturday morning.

“These buses will primarily be taken off various routes that fall in central and south Delhi. The permits of the 1,000 buses that are to be taken off the roads are going to lapse soon. Their renewal will not be allowed,” said a senior transport department official said.

The court had earlier stopped the transport department from phasing out Bluelines unless there were 10,000 buses — both DTC and corporate-run — in the Capital. Senior department officials said DTC has more than 6,000 buses now, which can easily take care of Delhi's public transport needs.

“We will soon file an affidavit in court in this regard,” the official said.

The driver of the bus that killed Saini has been arrested, a senior police officer said.