Delhi will soon have a fleet of electric buses. On Monday, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot shared a photo of the first prototype car that arrived in the capital the day before.

“Congratulations to Delhi! After a long wait, the prototype of DTC’s first 100% electric bus has arrived in Delhi! Hon’ble CM @ArvindKejriwal will close this electric bus soon,” Gahlot wrote on Twitter.

It is expected that the first batch of electric buses will be launched for public transportation in February.

Delhi currently has 6,793 buses, of which 3,760 are operated by Delhi Transport Company (DTC), and 3,033 are operated by Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transport System (DIMTS) Co., Ltd. through the National Transport Department.

Here is everything you need to know about these electric buses:

• The DTC is initially procuring 300 e-buses whose delivery was due to begin in November last year. It was delayed due to various reasons, including the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

• These low-floor buses will be equipped with hydraulic lifts to enable passengers on wheelchair to board the bus.

• They will also have GPS trackers, panic buttons and CCTV cameras among other features.

• The prototype bus, which arrived on Sunday, is currently being tested by the state transport department and the vehicle manufacturer JBM Auto Limited.

• There are 2,300 total electric buses in the pipeline. Out of these, 1,300 will be procured by the DTC and the rest 1,000 will operate under the cluster scheme.

• It will be another six months before the cluster electric buses are rolled out.

• Gahlot said on Monday that e-buses will be added in batches of about 50 every month after the first roll out in February.

• The Delhi government will equip bus depots with charging stations for these e-buses. This will be done in phases.

• Further, the DTC will build four “hybrid” bus depots, which will be a combination of electric and CNG buses. These will be the Subhash Place depot, Rajghat depot, Hasanpur depot and Bawana.

• The plan to induct e-buses in Delhi was first announced in July, 2018. In the future, the Delhi government will procure only electric buses.

Complete News Source : Hindustan Times