Hey Pune folks, exciting news for all you commuters out there! Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) is finally getting back on track with its plan to bring in some double-decker buses after a long hiatus of one and a half years. The tender process is set to kick off next week, and they’re aiming to procure 100 electric buses, including 20 cool double-deckers.
The decision to add these buses to the fleet was actually made back in December 2022 when Om Prakash Bakoria was the chairman. It got the thumbs up from the Board of Directors of PMPML, but things got stuck in a rut shortly after. It looks like it’ll be about another six months before we start seeing these new buses on the roads.
With the city’s population booming, the idea of introducing double-decker buses to handle the rush of passengers seems like a smart move. The plan is to start with 20 buses in the first phase, and these bad boys won’t be running on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) routes.
One interesting tidbit is that running an electric bus only costs about Rs 6 per kilometer, which is way cheaper than the Rs 50 to 60 per kilometer for a contractor-owned electric bus. To make this happen, PMPML is planning to take out loans from banks and ask for financial help from Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), and Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA).
Now, let’s talk about the features of these new double-decker buses. They’ll have two staircases (fancy!), be electric and air-conditioned (perfect for those hot Pune days), offer a comfortable ride thanks to good suspension, have a digital ticket system, and will look like buses straight out of London. They can seat up to 70 passengers and accommodate over 100 people in total, reducing the need for more buses or extra trips.
The current fleet of Semi-Low-Floor (SLF) double-decker buses has been a headache in terms of maintenance costs, so the switch to electric buses should help cut down on those expenses.
In terms of logistics, each bus will cost around Rs. 2 crores, and they’re looking to add a total of 1650 buses to the fleet. With a whopping 12 lakh daily passengers and 3.6 lakh kilometers traveled each day, these buses will be busy bees on the roads. The plan is to have 370 routes and 4,300 bus stops to serve the city.
Nitin Narvekar, Joint Managing Director of PMPML, shared, “PMPML is all set to bring in 100 buses, including 20 double-deckers. The tender process kicks off next week and should take around four months to complete.”
So, Pune peeps, get ready for a more comfortable and efficient commute with these new double-decker buses hitting the streets soon!
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