Ten AC minibuses to ply in city from April 10 on 2 routes

The state Transport department will introduce ten air-conditioned minibuses on two important routes in the city on April 10.

This is the first time in the history of the state's Transport sector when sophisticated air-conditioned minibuses are going to ply in the city.

Suvendu Adhikari, the state Transport minister, said: "People have to travel in the scorching heat during the summer months in the state. Thus, the aim is to increase the number of air-conditioned buses so that people can travel comfortably in the summer."

"The buses will start plying on the routes from April 10," he added.

Five buses will be plying on Kolkata Airport to Esplanade route while the remaining five will operate between Behala Joka to Esplanade.

The buses will be fitted with GPS system and surveillance cameras. More importantly, there will be a panic button in all the new

buses. Passengers can press the panic buttons if they face any problems while travelling in the buses.

The police will be alerted when the button is pressed and they will easily identify the real time location of the bus and reach the spot to assist the commuter.

Each of the buses cost Rs 17.85 lakh and they will have 30 seats. Since the buses are comparatively smaller in size, it can easily take turns in narrow roads.

Moreover, one who wants to travel in the buses can get a ticket using the newly introduced e-ticketing system. At the same time, one can also check the real time location of the buses in the Pathadisha app that was launched by the state Transport department recently.

It may be mentioned that the state Transport department has introduced 115 new buses in 2016-17 financial year and a target has been set to introduce more than 100 buses in 2017-18 financial year.