BEST fleet to get six electric buses today

Service to be operated on trial basis

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking will add six electric buses to its fleet on Friday.

The buses will only ply on routes around Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSTM) and Churchgate station for now. This is because each bus requires three hours of charge to run 200 km, and charging points have only been set at Backbay Depot at present, BEST spokesperson Hanumant Gophane said.

Costing ₹1.61 crore each, these 30-seater buses were purchased with financial assistance from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

“The BMC granted us ₹100 crore to the BEST to purchase buses. Of this, ₹90 crore was used to buy 185 regular BEST buses, and the remaining ₹10 crore were used to buy six electric buses from Goldstone Group,” Mr. Gophane said.

Eco-friendly initiative

The debt-ridden BEST has justified the purchase of these buses, which cost more than double compared to a regular bus, as an environment-friendly initiative. The undertaking does not have the funds to purchase the required number of regular buses, and is in the process of renting private buses. It has been asked to increase ticket rates and cut down on welfare schemes to reduce losses.

But officials said the electric buses are being run only on a trial basis to gauge if the undertaking could economically sustain such environment-friendly reforms.

Shiv Sena youth leader Aaditya Thackeray will inaugurate four of these six buses at the Wadala bus depot on Friday.