Entire fleet of BRTS buses to resume service from March
Even after two months of conducting the trial run with eight buses of the Metro bus service on the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) corridor, the Amritsar Municipal Corporation has managed to operate only 15 buses on a single route from the Golden Gate to India Gate till date.
However, officials have now assured that additional buses will be introduced on all three routes starting in March. As per the plan, the total fleet of buses will gradually be deployed. The 31-km-long BRTS corridor has 45 stations.
Initially, eight BRTS buses were introduced on December 7 on a trial basis before the MC elections. Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal had launched the bus service. The election is over, but the government has failed to fulfil its promise to resume the project within one month as they had promised. Now commuters have been eagerly waiting for plying of all the Metro bus services on all routes.
According to MC officials, the maintenance of 15 buses has been completed and these will start providing services from February 10. The MC aims to roll out 60 buses in a phased manner, ensuring all three routes are operational by the second week of March. A total of 72 buses will run daily from 6 am to 9 pm, with services available every 5 to 10 minutes, claimed the officials.
Passengers will require to purchase a smart card worth Rs 50 and recharge it with the same amount. Smart card holders will receive a 20 per cent discount like general passengers, senior citizens and specially-abled passengers will get a 50 per cent discount and college students up to 66 per cent. Students up to Class XII will be able to travel free upon obtaining a smart card.
The MC officials stated that the MC has completed all necessary preparations to resume the Metro bus services on the BRTS route. Information regarding the fare structure has been sent to the head office, and an official notification will be issued soon. By the second week of March, all 60 buses will be operational, providing the much-needed relief to commuters.