Double-decker buses all set to return to Chennai roads
Sources in the Transport Department said the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) would procure the electric double-decker buses as part of the World Bank-funded Chennai City Partnership Programme project.
Electric double decker bus
CHENNAI: The iconic double-decker buses that once roamed the city thoroughfares are set to make a comeback in Chennai, this time in the electric avatar, next year.
Sources in the Transport Department said the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) would procure the electric double-decker buses as part of the World Bank-funded Chennai City Partnership Programme project.
Electric double-decker buses would be procured under the Gross Cost Contract basis in the second phase of the WB-funded project, sources said. Under the GCC model, the private company will own, operate and maintain the e-buses while the routes and fares will be fixed by MTC. The private operator will be paid based on the fixed cost per km while the MTC will collect bus fares and also receive viability gap funding from the State government.
The city-based Ashok Leyland's EV arm Switch Mobility conducted a test run of an electric double-decker bus in the city in August last year. The test run was undertaken weeks after Transport Minister SS Sivasankar revealed the plan to study the feasibility of operating the double-decker buses on tourist routes.
Chennai has a long history of double-decker bus service starting from the 1970s. The double-decker buses were taken off the road in the 1980s but were re-introduced in 1997. These buses were operated on 18 A routes from High Court to Tambaram till 2008.
These buses cannot be operated on all the routes, as they require vertical clearance without low bridges, cables, and other structures that would hinder the bus movement, sources said.
Meanwhile, MTC would soon float bids for procuring 500 e-buses for the second phase of the programme. The corporation has already floated a tender for the procurement, supply, operation, and maintenance of 500 e-buses through the GCC model in the first phase. Under the Rs 960-crore project, the international aid agency would contribute 70 per cent of the funds while the rest would be borne by the State government.
In January 2023, Mumbai's Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) introduced the country's first double-decker AC electric buses, replacing the diesel double-decker buses. Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation has also planned to procure double-decker electric buses.