Commuters in the city can hope for better transport facilities as the cluster bus service run by corporate entities and seen as replacement for the “killer” Bluelines will be launched this week.
The Star Bus Pvt Ltd, which was awarded the first cluster in south Delhi, will begin the operation with 50 low-floor buses. While non-airconditioned buses will be orange, the airconditioned buses will be purple.
“The cluster service will be launched this week. It will significantly improve the transport services for commuters,” Delhi transport minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said.
The government had in 2009 divided nearly 650 city bus routes into 17 clusters.
Three corporate entities were already given contract to operate the service in five clusters and transport department officials said they are expecting a fleet size of around 800 buses under first five clusters by the middle of this year.
The cluster bus service, modelled on bus services in London and many other European cities, is seen as a replacement for the Blueline buses for which the government has set January 31 deadline for a complete phaseout.