Summary:
Tamil Nadu commuters will have to do with the old surface transport busses.
In an initiative to make travelling better for the commuters in the state, the Tamil Nadu government’s plan to buy 525 electric buses has hit a roadblock.
The first two e-buses, which were being operated in Chennai on a trial basis by Ashok Leyland in 2019, have been grounded without any announcement.
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Tamil Nadu commuters will have to do with the old surface transport busses.
In an initiative to make travelling better for the commuters in the state, the Tamil Nadu government’s plan to buy 525 electric buses has hit a roadblock.
The first two e-buses, which were being operated in Chennai on a trial basis by Ashok Leyland in 2019, have been grounded without any announcement.
The air-conditioned buses that cost Rs 1.5 crore each were being run on Thiruvanmiyur-Central Railway Station and Koyambedu-Broadway routes.
However, a month before the lockdown, the bus services were stopped.
Ashok Leyland refused to comment when asked why the trial had stopped and if it had shared any report with MTC.
MTC sources said they were not aware of the project results.
Last August, the Union heavy industries ministry had sanctioned procurement of the 525 e-buses.
According to the scheme, Coimbatore, Madurai, and Trichy is supposed to get 100 buses and smaller cities, including Salem, Erode, Tirupur and Vellore, will get 50 vehicles each.