Bluelines kept off, govt to decide Oct. 25
The Blueline buses will stay off city roads for another week, with the Delhi government exploring ways to phase them out. In a move to decongest city roads, the city government had ordered the Blueline buses to stay off roads ahead of the Commonwealth Games.
The city government is likely to take a view on the fate of the Blueline buses in the coming days, as court hearing is likely on October 20. A senior official said that the government would file an affidavit to apprise the Delhi high court about the ongoing case on phasing out of Blueline buses. The government had earlier planned to phase out all Blueline buses before the Commonwealth Games but it failed to meet the deadline. The Blueline bus operators had approached the high court against the move of the city government.
Though Delhi government is confident on phasing out the Blueline buses after the DTC fleet swelled to 6,400 after the addition of low-floor buses, the concern for the government is the shortage of drivers and other staff members.
The city government on Monday said that it would take a decision after October 25 on whether to bring around 1,600 Blueline buses back on the city’s roads. The government maintained that it was committed to the Blueline buses phaseout.
Delhi transport minister Arvinder Singh Lovely told reporters that the low-floor buses used to carry athletes and officials during Games would roll out from Tuesday on the city roads. “With the addition of the new buses, DTC would have a fleet of 6,400 buses. As many as 200-250 red buses are in the pipeline and will join the DTC fleet soon,” the minister added.
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