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Rahul Wadke

Mumbai, Nov. 21 Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking (BEST) will be acquiring 200 air-conditioned buses from Chinese manufacturer King Long for Rs 110 crore, adding to its existing fleet of 143 ‘King Longs’ as they are called.

The new buses will arrive by March 2010, said Mr Uttam Khobragade, General Manager of BEST.

Mumbai’s public transport service operates 4,200 buses, ferries about 45 lakh commuters every day across the metropolis. The undertaking is also buying 800 non-air-conditioned buses for Rs. 210 crore. This purchase would be eligible for 50 per cent funding under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), which is also financing several other State-owned transport undertakings.

The air-conditioned King Longs that BEST already has operate on 14 routes, with tickets priced between Rs 10 and Rs 90. The popularity of King Longs can be gauged from the fact that BEST has virtually scrapped all its old AC buses in the last two years and replaced them with 143 King Longs. Only 13 of the older fleet remain and they are being phased out.

Mr Khobragade said King Long is one of the few manufacturers of CNG engine-fitted air-conditioned buses. CNG use reduces operating costs. King Longs also cost only half of, say, a Volvo or Mercedes vehicle.

“Depending on passenger demand, we will add more King Longs. If they want 1,000 King Longs we will give them that,” Mr Khobragade said. Already, there are King Long users clubs in the city.

Mr Khobragade said that sometimes King Long routes get only unidirectional commuter traffic but the service is still not running in the red.

BEST is one of the few viable public transport service operators in the world, being also a distributor of electricity in the city.

More Stories on : Roadways | Roadways | Maharashtra

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