85 buses to complete lifespan on Nov 18, go off Tricity roads

The Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) has planned to divert diesel buses operating on long routes to the city, as 85 diesel buses will go off the Tricity roads on November 18 after the completion of their operational lifespan of 15 years.

According to officials, the ageing fleet of 85 diesel buses, operating on the local routes, will no longer be roadworthy. The aim of diverting the buses was to ensure that passengers do not face any inconvenience in commuting in the Tricity, they said, and added that 15 more diesel buses would be phased out next year.

Diesel buses, currently operating from Depot No 4, were to be replaced by 100 electric buses. The existing fleet, which includes non-AC green and AC red automatic diesel buses, was allotted to the city under a special scheme during the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

The Central Government had floated a tender for procurement of 100 electric buses under the PM e-Bus Sewa scheme for the city. Officials said that the buses were procured, but a final stage inspection was pending. If the inspection was carried out in the next week, the UT might get at least 25 electric buses after November 15, the officials said.

“If the UT Administration fails to get the delivery of the 25 electric buses on time, then 65 buses operating on long routes will have to be diverted to the local routes,” said the officials.

The authorities have also planned to divert 15 more buses whose lifespan was yet to be expired to the local routes, bringing the total number of buses to 80 on the Tricity routes.

“The shift will not affect any Tricity route, but the CTU’s long routes, which bring more revenue to the undertaking,” said the officials.

It may be mentioned that only CTU runs buses for public transportation in the Tricity.

The Centre had recently approved 328 more electric buses for Chandigarh under the PM-e-Bus Service Scheme, marking a significant milestone in its journey towards becoming a carbon-free city. With this, the total number of e-buses approved for the city has increased to 428.

Entire fleet to be replaced by 2028

The Administration plans to replace the entire fleet of 358 diesel buses of the CTU, running both on local as well as suburban routes, with electric ones by 2027-28. A fleet of 80 electric buses is already operating on the Tricity routes.