NMRC decides to terminate feeder bus service after four years of operation

Noida: The Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) in its annual board meeting on Thursday decided to terminate the contract of the feeder bus service, four years after

Noida: The Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) in its annual board meeting on Thursday decided to terminate the contract of the feeder bus service, four years after its operation. The fleet of 50 low-floor buses were meant to provide last mile connectivity from metro stations to different sectors and villages.

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The feeder buses had been plying in Noida and Greater Noida since December 14, 2016, NMRC officials said.

Manoj Vajpayee, general manager, NMRC, said that NMRC on Thursday convened its 26th board meeting followed by its 6th Annual General Meeting. Both the meetings were conducted via video conferencing at the NMRC headquarters in Noida.

“The board deliberated the matter of feeder bus service and authorized managing director NMRC to terminate the contract of the service, in view of various violations, as per the clauses in the contract. The bus service did not serve the purpose it was meant for,” Vajpayee said.

However, Vajpayee did not elaborate on the violations. Praveen Mishra, NMRC’s executive director, who attended the meeting, confirmed that the services have been terminated but refused to comment further.

Sources said that the bus service was running in loss since its operation. HT had published a report on May 30, 2019 in which a senior NMRC official had said that these buses record an average of 10,000 commuters and generate ₹3.50 lakh revenue a day, which is not enough for the corporation to even recover its operational costs.

The NMRC’s monthly revenue from the bus service wsa is ₹1 crore, against ₹3 crore of operational expenses a month, the officials said.

NMRC had signed a contract with a private transport company to run the city bus service. The buses will remain with the company as the contract is terminated, the officials said. NMRC had suspended the services of this bus facility since the outbreak of Coronavirus in March this year.

The bus service was funded by the Noida Authority and Greater Noida Authority. NMRC had a fleet of 50 low-floor AC buses that ran on 11 routes in Noida, Greater Noida and Noida Extension. These low-floor GPS-enabled buses were covered with two CCTV cameras and panic buttons.

In Noida, these buses started from Botanic Garden and covered different metro stations across Noida, as well as some villages. Similarly, the buses also started from Noida Extension to Sector 51 Metro Station, and covered Gaur City, Kisan Chowk, Garhi Chaukhandi village, and others on the way. These buses also ran between Noida and Greater Noida, covering Sector Alpha 1, Pari Chowk, Knowledge Park, NSEZ, etc.