Metro feeder gets cool

Come January and you will have swanky air-conditioned buses metro feeder buses to travel in.

Come January and you will have swanky air-conditioned buses metro feeder buses to travel in.

HT Image

Swaraj Mazda, the company manufacturing the buses for Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC( showed its first bus to the Metro top brass.

While DMRC officials refuse to term it as ‘prototype’, officials said the final product could be quite similar to what the company displayed.

“There could be several changes in what they showed us today,” a senior DMRC official said requesting anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

DMRC officials said they have suggested some changes in the bus. Once those changes are made, the prototype would be approved by the state transport authority and DMRC and buses would start rolling out.

The DMRC has placed an order to purchase 300 air-conditioned CNG buses with Swaraj Mazda.

According to metro officials, the first lot of 75 buses will be delivered in January. The remaining buses would be delivered by March 31, 2010.

Each bus will cost Rs 19,08,000. The buses will have powerful air-conditioners to get a temperature of 27 degree Celsius within 10 minutes of starting of the engine in extreme heat conditions.

Pneumatic air suspension (as available in DTC low-floor buses) for greater comfort, wide doors between 800 to 1000 mm, power-operated by driver and semi-low floor design (650 mm from road level) are some more features of these buses.

The buses will be customised for DMRC’s requirement and the interior side paneling will give the feeling of Metro coaches.

Each bus will have a seating capacity of 26 with the seats being along the walls.

The flooring will be made of 12 mm. fire retardant plywood plus silicon embedded vinyl and each bus will have two fire extinguishers in each bus, besides a first-aid box.

Destination display boards will be installed on the front and side of the buses. They will also have public address system and provisions for ticket vending machines.

The six-wheeler buses will have environment friendly Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-fuelled engine with horse power of nearly 100 HP, power steering and specially designed driver’s work area.