Revamped bus service in Kolkata on anvil

The metropolis will soon have a revamped bus service system in place with the Calcutta State Transport Corporation planning to introduce more buses and route realignment.
The plan involves putting more buses on roads in addition to a fleet of AC and non-AC Volvo, Ashok Leyland buses already introduced, CSTC managing director Bhishmadeb Dasgupta said.
Next month itself, a fleet of 120 non-AC Tata buses would be added to the city's network, he said.
"The state transport department has been doing route-study, reviewing passengers' demand for buses from time to time and even get requests from the ministers... We have added buses and revamped. There are plans to bring in more buses for the city in the coming years," Dasgupta said.

For the record, under the JNNURM scheme, the state has bought 874 AC and non-AC buses, out of which, 632 buses were meant for CSTC, 80 for Siliguri, while 60 each for Jalpaiguri and Asansol and 42 for Durgapur.
North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) got 140 buses while South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC) got 102 buses.

And among CSTC's 632 JNNURM buses 63 are AC Volvo buses, 171 AC and 278 non-AC Ashok Leyland buses and the 120 non-AC Tata buses.
Talking about the maintenance of these over Rs one crore buses, the CSTC would be taking help of the manufacturers.

And for its fleet of 63 Volvo AC buses it has entered into a one-year tie-up with the Volvo company which could be extended for another three to four years' time.
"Volvo will provide us with service engineers while we will be providing them with the equipment. It's a one-year agreement for which we have to pay an amount of Rs 50,000," Dasgupta said.
For the fleet of both the AC and non-AC Ashok Leyland buses, the CSTC would be floating a tender.
"This will also save a lot... We don't need to train our people for the maintenance of these buses. And a better maintenance will ensure a much longer life for them," he said.