July 20, 2018
E-bus service in New Town crosses 10,000-passenger mark in a month
The Bengal Government’s efforts towards popularising environment-friendly modes of transport got a fillip with the AC electric bus service running in New Town, on the outskirts of Kolkata, crossing the 10,000-passenger mark.
This number is all the more encouraging considering the fact that the electric buses, or e-buses, were introduced just a month ago.
They are the only ones of their kind in Bengal, and form one of the major steps towards making New Town a green city. Three 32-seater buses have been introduced – two for Action Area I and one for Action Area II. The average speed of the buses is between 40kmph and 50 kmph. The fare is Rs 10.
There are no conductors in these buses; the drivers collect the fare themselves and a machine installed near the gate generates the tickets.
Three 50 kW overnight charging stations have been set up along the routes for charging the batteries of the buses. Five to six hours are required for charging the batteries to 100 per cent.
Talking of environment-friendly modes of transport, New Town has come up with a cycle-sharing scheme, that has become a great success, and discussions are on to introduce e-vehicles on sharing basis.
Source: Millennium Post
