Uttarakhand Transport Corporation had conducted a trial run of electric buses between Dehradun and Mussoorie this month last year. Following a successful run of these buses, the state transport corporation has now decided to induct 50 electric buses in its fleet. In addition, the transport body will also be procuring 10 CNG buses, latest by next year.
The decision comes after the trial runs proved to be successful for both the Dehradun-Mussoorie and Nainital-Haldwani routes. As per sources cited in a report, 30 of these 50 electric buses will be used within the capital city of Dehradun. Out of the 30, 22 will ply within the city, while the rest will be used for inter-city routes. The plan is to have such environment-friendly vehicles as a part of Dehradun¡¯s transport fleet in lieu of it being a ¡¯Smart City¡¯.
As per the report, concerned Uttarakhand authorities will be floating tenders for the electric buses by next month. The budget for this has been procured under the FAME-II directive by the centre to the state governments, to use electric buses in their state transport fleets.
(Representative Image: BCCL)
CNG buses, on the other hand, will be procured only by the end of this year, probably after the said number of electric buses are already inducted.
The transition to electric buses, is gaining steam as a part of a country-wide effort to replace the existing diesel buses with electric drivetrain. Only last month, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, had claimed, that all the buses in the country will be switched to electric in the next two years.
Examples can be seen across the nation. Ahmedabad recently placed the largest-ever order for electric buses in India - a total of 300 electric buses to be procured from Tata Motors. So long as such preferences are given to electric vehicles in public transport fleets, the national aim of using battery powered vehicles instead of IC engine ones will gain popularity with the general public too.?