Faridabad gets 12 CNG buses

Tribune News Service

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Faridabad, February 27

Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Krishan Pal Gurjar launched 12 low floor compressed natural gas (CNG) buses on four different routes for the city bus service at the general bus stand at Ballabgarh here on Saturday.

These buses will be operated by the Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL). The city bus service operated by the Haryana Roadways had come to an end about two years ago.

GMCBL CEO Anju Chaudhary said while the move was an extension of the service already operational on inter-city routes between Gurugram and Faridabad, 12 buses had been introduced on four local routes of Faridabad, as the latter had no such facility and the GMCBL had been asked to provide it till Faridabad comes up with its own service.

The number of buses could be increased in case the demand rises, it is claimed. The GMCBL, an initiative of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), which has been operating 151 buses in Gurugram, had earlier offered to run about 50 buses in Faridabad.

According to the officials concerned, the fare for the service will range between Rs 10 to 30. The routes that will be covered include Ballabgarh general bus stand, Badarpur border, civil hospital, Byepass road, residential societies of Greater Faridabad and parts of the NIT area here.

According to sources in the Transport Department, earlier, the city bus service having a fleet of 160 buses operated by a local depot of the Haryana Roadways was closed in 2019, after buses got grounded due to lack of repairs or maintenance. Though the Faridabad Smart City Limited had also announced to launch Rs 463-crore Smart City bus service in 2018, the PPP mode project is yet to come out of the files.

However, Haryana Roadways Workers Union chief organiser Ramashray Singh said they oppose the move as it would lead to privatisation of the Transport Department.