BEST Rolls Out India’s First AC Double Decker Electric Bus, Commercial Services To Begin Soon
14-02-2023 : India’s first double-decker electric bus with air conditioning was added to BEST, Mumbai’s civic transportation organisation. Before it is made available to the general public, the wet-leased e-bus will be registered with the Regional Transport Office. This double-decker electric bus with air conditioning is likely to operate on the same suburban routes as the existing diesel-powered conventional double-decker buses.
According to Lokesh Chandra, general manager of the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking, 20 of these double-decker air-conditioned e-buses from Switch Mobility, a division of the car maker Ashok Leyland, are expected to arrive before the end of March. By year’s end, there will be 200 double-decker electric buses on the road.
A new electric double-decker version of Mumbai’s renowned double-decker bus has been put into operation.
For access to the upper decks, the new e-bus includes two doors and an equal number of staircases. In addition to other features, the new buses will have digital ticketing, CCTV cameras, live tracking, digital displays, and a panic button for emergencies.
The passenger carrying capacity of double-decker buses is almost two times greater than that of single-decker buses, according to BEST.
The new buses can accommodate 90 to 100 passengers standing up in addition to its 65 seated passengers.
When BEST declared that double-decker e-buses would be introduced in public service in October 2022 after completing the certification and registration process, Union minister Nitin Gadakari unveiled the country’s prototype air-conditioned e-bus on August 17, 2022, in Mumbai.
Executives from Switch Mobility stated that the Centre’s altered certification procedure was the key reason for the accreditation’s delay.
A workshop in Patalganga, in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, will start line production of the double-decker e-buses after receiving the certificate from the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI).
