The Delhi High Court on Friday gave another extension to Blueline buses to continue their service for another four months before their phase out and replacement by low-floor buses.
The permits of these private buses were to expire on Friday. The Court had earlier also extended the validity of these buses.
A Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice Vikramjit Sen and Justice A.K. Pathak directed the Delhi Government to renew permits of these buses when its counsel submitted that the Government required some more time to phase out these buses as the supply of low-floor buses had not been as per the schedule.
Counsel for the Blueline bus owners also urged the Court to issue direction for renewal of the permits as their validity would end on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Government informed the Court that it had already installed GPS in 100 low-floor buses and the rest of the buses would have this facility in seven months.
The Government has promised the High Court that it will phase out Blueline buses from the Capital’s roads.
On a direction by the Court, the Government had in 2007 submitted a plan to phase out Blueline buses and bring in their place a new-look passenger-friendly public transport system with all buses fitted with electronic gadgets for safe driving and tracking devices.
Under the new transport policy, private buses will be operated by corporate and cooperative bodies under the integrated management of a Delhi Government company.
The two entities will run buses on all existing routes that will be grouped in different clusters, and each operator will not be allotted more than one cluster.
Taking suo motu note of the increase in cases of accidents involving Blueline buses, the Court has been hearing the matter for a long time.
