Killer Blueline buses all set to bid adieu to Delhi this week

Delhites can bid adieu to killer Bluelines from this week. The first fleet of 50 low-floor corporate buses under the cluster scheme will hit south Delhi roads this week. Commuters can now comfortably travel in swanky buses equipped with hi- tech systems. Modelled on the lines of the London and Paris bus services, these private buses will have automatic vehicle location system, electronic ticketing machines and automatic fare collection system.

Unlike the Bluelines, these buses would strictly follow the time table, a transport department official said. The Delhi government had approved the cluster bus services in south, south east and south west Delhi while planning the phase- out of Blueline buses, transport department officials said, adding that Star Bus Pvt Ltd has been awarded the contract for the first cluster in south Delhi. The air- conditioned buses will be in purple colour, while the normal ones will be painted orange.

Officials said the cluster scheme would prove beneficial to commuters as the earlier model caused on- road competition by private buses leading to accidents and poor quality service. There was also the problem of enforcing standards on an unmanageably large number of bus owners.

Under the new scheme, there will be a cap on the maximum distance a bus can ply on a route in a day. Consequently, there would be no competition between the buses on the road, which would result in providing a safe mode of transport, the official said.

The buses will be maintained by the private entities, and drivers and conductors will work under supervision of the transport department. The government will give them fixed remuneration for every kilometre driven and the revenue generated from ticketing and other operations will go to the government.

To provide a good and sustainable mode of transport in the city, the government has decided that the buses on each route will be run in the ratio of 60: 40. While the DTC will run 60 per cent of the buses, the private players handle the rest of the fleet.

The decision is significant in the wake of the government’s blanket ban on Blueline buses. In 2009, the transport department segregated the city into 650 bus routes, comprising of 17 clusters. The routes were further segregated into profitable and non- profitable ones. The bus fares will be fixed by the transport department. The Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System had conceived and drafted the scheme for corporatisation of private bus operations in Delhi in 2007.