Some relief: Govt directs DTC to buy 500 midi buses

With the city bus service facing a shortage of buses, the AAP-led Delhi government has directed the DTC to add 500 midi buses to its fleet immediately.

Delhiites have been facing difficulties in commuting due to shortage of buses in the national capital.

The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) currently operates around 4,700 regular buses and 1,500 cluster buses.

The DTC has already started analysing the cost of midi buses, or single-decker minibuses, and a decision on its procurement is expected to be taken in the next board meeting of the corporation.

“In view of a huge shortage of buses in the national capital, we have asked DTC to buy 500 midi buses so that people using bus service don’t have to face problem while commuting across the city,” a senior government official said.

The midi buses will be purchased in a phased manner, he said, adding, there are several routes, especially in rural areas, where commuters have to wait several hours for buses.

“DTC will buy 500 midi buses in the first phase, while more buses will be added to DTC’s fleet in the second phase.

If we compare the cost of midi buses to that of normal buses, the difference is not much. The number of seats is also almost same as smaller buses have 28-30 seats,” the official said, adding, they will be plied on routes facing shortage of buses.

At present, most DTC buses are either low-floor or semi-low floor buses supplied by Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland.

Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai had recently said that the his government was serious about tackling the problem of the shortage of buses.

Meanwhile, DTC has started the process of phasing out its entire fleet of standard-floor or ‘yellow’ buses, which it says are “beyond repair”.