Towards Eco-Friendly Transport: 40 electric buses to hit J&K roads soon

To bring down the vehicular pollution and provide convenient mode of public transport, the J&K state road transport corporation (JKSRTC) shall procure 40 electric buses next month from India’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturer Tata Motors.

The buses to be procured under central government’s FAMEscheme, as per officials, shall hit the roads in May.

   

Speaking with Greater Kashmir, managing directorJKSRTC, Bilal Ahmad Bhat said the corporation shall procure 40 electric busesunder the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME)scheme. “The manufacturing of these buses is in process,” he said.

“We have set 31 March 2019deadline for the Tata Motors to have all the 40 vehicles with us by the nextmonth. The company has already started manufacturing of these buses at theirplant,” Bhat said.

The buses shall be rolled out in the Valley at an unveilingceremony, a representative of the company said.

Each bus branded ‘new horizon vehicle’ is 30-32 seater,costing around Rs 1 crore. “They are being manufactured in a special plant atKarnataka,” said the official adding that a special team of JKSRTC officialsalso visited Karnataka recently to review the manufacturing of the buses.

The air and noise pollution free electric buses will run onseparate routes in both Jammu and Srinagar regions, the official said, addingthat “these buses will be added to the SRTC next month but will be madefunctional in May.”

Before commencing the operations of hi-tech buses, the TataMotors will train the JKSRTC drivers while workshops will also be conducted toimpart training to the mechanical staff about handling and maintenance. “TataMotors apart from supplying the buses will be responsible for the after-saleservice,” the official said.

“Seating arrangement in these buses will depend on what thestate requires. It can be customized as per the needs of the place. The seatscan be reclining, straight and even vary in seat size,” he said.

Theofficial said the pollution level in these electric-buses is nil. “With onefull-charge, a bus runs almost 150 kilometers.”

“We are supplying the buses with a feature called ‘fastcharging’. While as in ‘slow charging’ feature, the charging time is 5-6 hourswhich can be done when the vehicle halts during the night,” he said.

The official said the fast charging feature, with which thebuses to be supplied to J&K will be laced with, will need charging time of2-3 hours for one vehicle.

“Advantage for fastcharging will be that if we operate the bus for 100 kilometers and at the timeit returns to the yard, a fast charging facility is provided there. So evenwhile the vehicle is waiting for passengers for an hour, it can simultaneouslyalso get charged,” he said.

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