Delhi CM to flag off new buses under Cluster scheme on Tuesday

After an eight-year gap, a fleet of 25 new standard floor buses will be added to the public transport of Delhi on Tuesday.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will flag off the first lot of the 1,000 standard floor buses to be inducted under Cluster scheme of the Delhi Integrated Multi Modal System(DIMTS) in a function at Rajghat depot on Tuesday evening, a Delhi government statement said.

The first batch of 25 standard floor, non-air conditioned buses will come equipped with hydraulic lifts to enable differently abled commuters to travel in them, said a government official.

The new buses are also equipped with CCTV cameras, GPS, panic buttons and rear surveillance cameras.

Currently there are around 5,500 public transport buses including around 3,900 run by the Delhi Transport Corporation and over 1,600 buses under DIMTS's Cluster scheme.

The last buses were added to the Cluster scheme in 2011 while DTC fleet added new buses in 2008, the official said.

The Delhi government plans to induct a total of 4,000 new buses including 1,000 e-buses by mid 2020.

Transport minister Kailash Gahlot had earlier said the entire fleet of 1,000 standard floor buses under the Cluster scheme will be rolled on the city roads by December this year.

The process for procurement of 1,000 low floor buses each for DTC and DIMTS is also underway.