Chandigarh, July 26: Punjab Governor & UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore flagged off 31 HVAC long-route buses at the ISBT, Sector 17, here.
These 31 HVAC buses will ply on long routes to Shimla, Manali, Dehradun, Amritsar, Hisar, Haridwar, Delhi, Hansi, Harmirpur, Jwala Ji and Baijnath. UT Adviser Manoj Parida was also present.
These buses have electronically controlled diesel engines. All buses are equipped with cameras, LED destination boards and GPS devices for tracking of buses in real time. Each row of seat is equipped with reading lights, mobile charging points, AC louvers, etc. The total cost of each HVAC bus is Rs 50 lakh. The fare of HVAC buses is approximately 44 per cent lesser than super luxury buses.
For the first time, the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) has introduced panic button in these 31 HVAC long-route buses to ensure the security of women passengers. Once a passenger presses the alert button, the Transport Department and the Police Control Room will be alerted and a message will be sent to the control room, mentioning the registration number of the bus and its location.
Chandigarh Transport Undertaking is operating 128 inter-state buses on 51 routes in adjoining states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. The department aims at replacing old fleet of ordinary buses with 120 HVAC buses in three lots. The first lot of 40 HVAC buses has been ordered wherein 37 HVAC buses are already operating on routes. In the second lot of 40 HVAC buses, 31 buses have been flagged off.
The facilities
These buses have electronically controlled diesel engines. All buses are equipped with cameras, LED destination boards and GPS devices for tracking of buses in real time. Each row of seat is equipped with reading lights, mobile charging points, AC louvers, etc.
