Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Transport resumes bus services to Navi Mumbai

Following a demand from the commuters, the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Transport (KDMT) resumed its civic bus services connecting Navi Mumbai on the Kalyan-Vashi and Kalyan- Konkan Bhavan- CBD Belapur routes on Friday.

This is one of the popular routes in the city as many travel to Vashi and Konkan Bhavan from Kalyan for work. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, services on both these routes were called off by the civic transport body along with all other routes.

Milind Dhat, general manager, KDMT, said, “Since the lockdown has eased and people are moving out for work, we want them to use civic buses for transportation. Many travel to Vashi and Belapur from Kalyan. For them, there was no service earlier. People used to depend on railway or private vehicles for transportation.”

On the first day, nearly 460 passengers took the KDMT buses to Vashi and Konkan Bhavan. The civic body has also issued a dedicated time table for the services on these routes.

The buses to Vashi will start at 7.15 am from ST depot in Kalyan (W). This bus service will be available at 30-minute frequency. From Kalyan (E) the service will be available only once in the morning at 8.15 am at Shreeram Chowk.

Considering the need for social distancing inside the buses, the KDMT has made it mandatory for the passengers to wear masks.

“We are trying to improve the service by adding more and more routes. Passengers taking the civic bus will be allowed in only if they wear a mask otherwise there will be no entry,” added Dhat.

Presently the KDMT has 137 buses out of which only 52 of them are functioning, as many buses are to be repaired. Out of the 52 buses, twenty are given to the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation for Covid duty purposes. While the rest are plying for common public.

“People have been waiting for some sort of transportation to reach their work place. The civic bus service will definitely help many but they need to make people aware of the service so that more people use the buses. I travel to Vashi daily for work, I might take a civic bus now if it is safe and on time,” said Darshan Nair,27, a resident of Kalyan (E).

The KDMT that initiated its services from Kalyan Dombivli since 1999, had added the Kalyan-Vashi route in 2001 and Dombivli-Vashi route in 2007-08. The Shreeram Chowk - Vashi route service was also added in 2008. Several times, these routes were cancelled by the KDMT due to lack of passengers earlier.

Route No 11:

KALYAN TO VASHI

First bus: 7.15am

Last bus: 9.30pm

Timings : 7.15am, 8.15am (Shreeram Chowk-Vashi), 10.15am, 11.15am, 12.30pm, 2.15pm, 4pm, 8 pm, 8.30pm, 9pm and 9.30pm.

VASHI TO KALYAN

First bus: 8.45am

Last bus: 11.05pm

Timings: 8.45am, 10am , 12.30pm, 1pm, 2.15pm , 3.55pm, 5.45pm (Vashi to Shreeram Chowk), 9.35pm, 10.05pm, 10.35pm and 11.05pm.

ROUTE NO. 15

KALYAN- KONKAN BHAVAN (CBD BELAPUR)

First bus: 7am

Last bus: 6. 15pm

Timings: 7am, 8am, 9am, 11am, 12pm, 4pm, 5pm, 5.30pm, 6.15pm

KONKAN BHAVAN TO KALYAN

First bus: 9am

Last bus: 7.50pm

Timings: 9am, 9.20am, 10.30am, 12.45pm, 1.45pm, 6.15pm, 6.45pm, 7.10pm, 7.50pm.