Jammu and Kashmir has received the first fleet of electric buses procured under a central scheme.
However, the buses will hit the roads only after the modelcode of conduct (MCC), presently in effect due to the general elections, isover in May.
As per officials, 10electric buses have been recently received by J&K State Road TransportCorporation from Tata Motors and 30 more similar vehicles will be added to thefleet of eco-friendly buses soon. The official said a trial run of the electricbuses was held between Vijaypur to Rail Head complex area in Jammu on Saturday.
“Keeping in view the model code of conduct, the busesshall become operational only in May when the Lok Sabha elections areover,” the official said adding that 20 buses each will be plying onKashmir and Jammu roads.
The corporation is procuring these 40 electric buses underthe Faster Adoption and Manufacturing Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME)scheme of the central government. Eachbus branded ‘New Horizon Vehicle’ is 30-32 seater, costing around Rs 1 crore.
“They have been 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 ondifferent routes in both Kashmir and Jammu divisions, the official said.
Before commencing the operations of these 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.
“We are supplying thebuses with a feature called ‘fast charging’. While as in ‘slow charging’features, the charging time is 5-6 hours which can be done when the vehiclehalts during the night,” he said, adding, with one full-charge, a bus runsalmost 150 kilometres.
60 percent funding for the electric buses is being providedby centre while rest 40 percent is borne by the state, 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 fast charging will be that if we operate thebus for 100 kilometers and at the time it returns to the yard, a fast chargingfacility is provided there. So even while the vehicle is waiting for passengersfor an hour, it can simultaneously also get charged,” he said.
Another 20 electric buses will also hit the summer capitalroads in days to come under the Srinagar Smart City project.