Metro promises to expand feeder services yet again

In a bid to provide connectivity to its lakhs of commuters, Delhi Metro had promised to increase its feeder bus service at least twice during last two years. However, the commuters have been waiting for the promise to be fulfilled.

In a bid to provide connectivity to its lakhs of commuters, Delhi Metro had promised to increase its feeder bus service at least twice during last two years. However, the commuters have been waiting for the promise to be fulfilled.

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Failing to keep up to commuters’ expectations due to ‘some technical reasons’ despite inviting tenders twice during last two years, Delhi Metro again has come up with a plan to add 300 AC buses in its feeder service within few months.

Last year, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had procured 150 buses from Swaraj Mazda to run on feeder routes. The buses were later returned to the company as the corporation could not find suitable operators for them. The 300 new buses were initially scheduled to be delivered by April 2010 and then postponed to before the Commonwealth Games to provide feeder bus connectivity to all the 11 Games venues from different Metro stations.

Then in October, the DMRC had floated tender for operating 300 non-AC buses. This tender document was later modified and non-AC buses were replaced by AC buses. If these buses are added to the existing fleet of feeder buses, the number of Delhi Metro’s feeder buses will increase to 420, including the existing 120 buses that run on 16 routes. A total of 82 routes covering almost all parts of the city have been approved by the state transport authority.

“The service is extremely inadequate and the buses are available only on a few routes. The condition of the existing buses is also very poor,” said VK Arora, a resident of Preet Vihar.