Travelling in Mumbai’s hot weather is no cakewalk. And while the city has an efficient BEST service, it will soon have an electric double-decker bus. There was a time when these double-decker buses were Mumbai’s trademark. But with infrastructural developments, there are only a few of them that are operational in the city. But now, that is going to change as Mumbai is going to house India’s first double-decker electric bus. Here is all you need to know about this new addition to BEST (Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport).
India’s First AC Double Decker Bus
The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport of Mumbai has a new addition to its fleet. In August 2022, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari launched the air-conditioned double-decker e-bus. It has received a fitness certificate from the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), Pune. However, the regional transport agency hasn’t finished its registration process. Due to this, the bus won’t be operational for another two to three days. But once it starts, BEST’s General Manager confirmed that it will run from Kurla Depot to Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).
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Features Of This New Bus
This new air-conditioned double-decker bus has a capacity of ninety passengers per bus. Moreover, these buses will have two staircases. They will have electronic indications with tap-in and tap-out facilities. For security purposes, each bus will have CCTV cameras installed. With a battery of 231 kilowatt-hours, these buses can run up to a range of. two hundred and fifty kilometres. It requires a total of eighty minutes to charge the bus. But, with a minimum of forty-five minutes of charging, the bus can cover a distance of a hundred kilometres.
The cost for each bus is around two crore rupees and the first batch will have ten buses. According to the General Manager of Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport, they will start by operating one bus for a week. And the forty non-air-conditioned buses that are still operating and run on diesel will steadily phase out by the end of July.
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Cover Image Courtesy: Nitin Gadkari/ Twitter