Capital Region Urban Transport midi buses start arriving in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar:  The City’s new special purpose vehicle (SPV) for transport, Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT), which is planning to transform the urban mobility scenario with a fleet of new buses, today received 29 midi buses from the manufacturer Ashok Leyland. The buses are currently with the depot of the manufacturer and later would be brought to the CRUT bus depot at Bhagabanpur on the backside of the plotting scheme of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), K-9.

Once the buses reach the CRUT bus depot, the branding will be done on them. A senior CRUT official said “by Friday the manufacturer is likely to provide additional 56 new midi buses so that the new fleet will have 85 buses. As the entire city is going to have around 200 buses, 100 will be provided by Ashok Leyland the rest 100 will be provided by another leading bus manufacturer Tata Motors. “The city bus service project will become operational before World Cup Hockey,’’ the CRUT official added.

The midi buses shall have a capacity to carry 28 passengers plus one driver. The buses would be of non-air-conditioned types. The midibuses will be non-air-conditioned and have a seating capacity of 28 passengers. The standard buses will have a seating capacity of 44 passengers. Of the 100 standard size buses, 50 will have air-condition facility. The standard buses will be provided by Tata Motors. Similarly, the other 100 buses will be divided into 50 standard air-conditioned buses and 50 standard types. A standard bus will have a capacity of 44 seats (43 passengers and one driver).

The standard buses are likely to be supplied by Tata Motors. CRUT officials said currently, the new buses have been kept at the depot of the manufacturer and would be brought to the CRUT bus depot at Bhagabanpur on the City outskirts soon. Once the buses reach the CRUT depot, branding will be done on them.“The buses will start plying before the Men’s Hockey World Cup,’’ the officials added.