NCR Surface Transportation Thread

[zenith_suv]

Originally Posted by Abhishek901

Bluelines are not nuisance only because they kill people but also because they are not commuter friendly. Firstly they will stop their bus at a particular stop and wait there to fill the bus or they will drive first 3-5 km very slowly in order to collect as many commuters as possible. Then they will race with other bluelines or DTC buses to earn, thus denting DTC's income as well. They bribe DTC drivers to drive slowly, thus creating troubles with DTC's timetable as well. Staff is far from courteous, buses are not maintained, seats are torn, floor is shaky, they leak CNG, they are dabbas and what not.

.

Oh yeah , brings back old memories ........

[Abhishek901]

Two low floor buses of the Delhi Transport Corp (DTC) caught fire in two separate incidents here Saturday, an official said. No one was injured.

The first incident took place at 9.20 a.m. near Prahaladpur in south Delhi and the second around 12 noon near the Akshardham flyover in east Delhi.

In the past 17 days, three low floor buses running on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) have caught fire in Delhi.

Saturday's first incident was reported when the bus plying between Badarpur border and Gurgaon in Haryana caught fire all of a sudden.

The second bus was plying on route 355 between Noida in Uttar Pradesh and Karol Bagh in central Delhi.

"A strong burning smell started and the bus was filled with thick smoke. I took the bus onto a side of the road and stopped it. The passengers got out. The front wheels were jammed and one of them was burning," said the driver of the Noida-Karol Bagh bus.

The fire brigade doused the fire. Nobody was injured.

The incidents are a setback to Delhi government's plans of phasing out the privately-owned Blueline buses before the Commonwealth Games next year and replace them with 3,500 low-floor CNG-fuelled buses.

The Delhi government has ordered an inquiry into the incidents and have urged Tata Motors, which supplies the buses, to fix the problem.

Times of India


This is a very serious issue now. Nothing happened in last one year but suddenly they are catching fire !

[ankit.pokes]

what the heck is happening wit tata motors

[Abhishek901]

Times of India

[Abhishek901]

OMG . Just noticed that out of 134 posts so far in this thread (excluding this one), my share is 96. Knock Knock... Am I the only one here

[Abhishek901]

Yet another Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) low floor bus got stalled on Sunday morning — the third incident in two days and the sixth in two weeks — after smoke started emanating from one of its rear wheels.

The incident has raised more questions about the ‘‘over-priced’’ maintenance contract that DTC has with Tata Motors — it costs Rs 50 lakh per bus — that has drawn flak earlier too. In what can only be interpreted as a burst of benevolence towards the bus manufacturing company, DTC, instead of invoking any stringent penalty clause after the latest incident, scurried to announce an inspection of its entire fleet of low floor buses.

Around 9.20 am on Sunday morning, about 30 passengers seated in a low floor non-AC bus plying on route 740 — Uttam Nagar to ISBT Anand Vihar — noticed smoke coming out of the rear wheel on the right side of the bus, just as it was crossing Sagarpur. This led to panic, forcing the driver to bring the bus to a halt. All the passengers were safely evacuated. DTC officials explained that the brake shoe connected to the tyre had got worn out before time, due to which the wheel got jammed. As the bus kept moving, it got heated up due to the friction and caused smoke.

‘‘The brake shoe is normally changed after the bus has run for around 1 lakh kms. This bus had done about 80,000 kms. This is a maintenance problem. The brake shoe has been changed and the bus is running again,’’ said a senior DTC official.

After Sunday’s incident, the corporation is going to do a complete check of all the 921 low floor buses. ‘‘We don’t want to take any more chances. Over the next 4-5 days, all the low floor buses will be thoroughly checked,” the official added. The corporation has reportedly also pulled up Tata Motors for the deficiency in services. He added that the corporation was also changing training module for its drivers.

Experts however wondered why the corporation has neither changed the maintenance agency, nor invoked any stringent penalty clause against Tata Motors, which is responsible for maintaining all the buses that have so far developed snags.

‘‘Frequent mechanical failures in the Tata low-floor buses have become a regular feature and pose danger to the safety of commuters and road users. It seems Delhi government is not interested in initiating remedial measures to remove the defects in the buses and their maintenance,’’ said SP Singh of Indian Federation of Transportation Research and Training.

Times of India

[Abhishek901]

A sudden spurt of smoking buses over the last week has raised questions about whether DTC’s swank makeover is all show and no substance. Lending credence to the doubts is the unwaveringly sloth work culture that DTC refuses to get rid of. So, even as crores are being spent on giving the city’s public transport a fillip, Delhiites remain unhappy with the service.

An effective public transport system is the government’s solution to the chaos on the roads — which is getting worse as close to 1,000 new vehicles hit Delhi roads every day. Unless car-users switch to buses, the traffic situation will not improve. The Delhi Metro network might be expanding but buses will remain the major people carriers.

Times City spent a day talking to DTC commuters and the generally echoed sentiment was DTC needs to pull up its socks and improve its services. The capital’s transportation woes cannot be answered only by creating modern infrastructure.

‘‘Bus fares have increased by almost 150%, so has infrastructure but the service is still the same. Even after the increased fares, DTC buses never come on time and one cannot predict travel times either,’’ said Samyukta Singh, a resident of Malviya Nagar.

At Noida’s Sector 15 bus stop, regular commuters dissuaded us as we waited for a DTC bus on route 347. The preferred mode for those living across the border is the UP government’s counterpart bus service. ‘‘DTC’s green buses will not come before an hour, so there’s no point waiting. Take the Metro or a Blueline instead,’’ said Raj Mishra, who works in Noida, Sector 2.

The other problem is that buses arrive in bunches and many do not ply up to the last stop. ‘‘Many buses turn back for Delhi from Sector 37, instead of going up to Sector 34,’’ said Abhijit Das, a resident Greater Noida.

After the fare hike, commuters say there is an acute shortage of Rs 5 change with conductors. ‘‘I take the Metro from Dwarka to Pragati Maidan and then a low-floor bus to ITO. At least two days in a week, I end up paying Rs 10 for my bus ride because the conductor cannot give me back change,’’ said Isha Puri, a management consultant.

Bus staff also run out of printed tickets after about 8pm. Passengers are then sometimes asked to pay only half the fare, since the chances of a ticket checker suddenly appearing are slim at that hour.

Maintenance of the new low-floor fleet has been outsourced to the bus manufacturers — Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland — and DTC is paying nearly Rs 40 lakh per bus for a 12-year term. Despite this, buses are dirty. Garbage and torn tickets lie strewn on the floor. Window panes are not clean and even seats and door panels are dusty.

Said Tarana Anand, a regular on BRT route 419: ‘‘The seats are so dirty I often end up getting my clothes dirty in the morning. I prefer to drive.’’

When the Delhi government procured its new fleet, they opted for low-floor buses as against the standard ones. One of the main features of the new buses was that they allowed stepless entry, of especial help for the elderly and disabled. Therefore, the height of all new bus shelters was realigned. But over a year after the new fleet became operational, the buses still don’t stop right next to the bus shelters, making stepless entry impossible. Officials say the corporation has been training drivers to do so and that the problem will be sorted out.

Times of India

[phaedrus]

Originally Posted by Abhishek901

OMG . Just noticed that out of 134 posts so far in this thread (excluding this one), my share is 96. Knock Knock... Am I the only one here

no you're not. your contribution is greatly appreciated. keep up the great work dude

[phaedrus]

friends were telling me how the 'new' buses are starting to give way because of the lack of maintenance by DTC. somethings never change eh? :sigh:

[Abhishek901]

Originally Posted by phaedrus

no you're not. your contribution is greatly appreciated. keep up the great work dude

Thanks paaji

[Euromast]

Originally Posted by phaedrus

friends were telling me how the 'new' buses are starting to give way because of the lack of maintenance by DTC. somethings never change eh? :sigh:

But Uncle G maintenance was supposed to be taken care by the supplier??

[bains1971]

Originally Posted by Abhishek901

OMG . Just noticed that out of 134 posts so far in this thread (excluding this one), my share is 96. Knock Knock... Am I the only one here

Dont worry your post are the best very informative, i remember before your time, very baron.

[Abhishek901]

Originally Posted by bains1971

Dont worry your post are the best very informative, i remember before your time, very baron.

Thanks



Hindustan Times

[Abhishek901]

Originally Posted by Euromast

But Uncle G maintenance was supposed to be taken care by the supplier??

Yes, but DTC itself is taking it lightly. It is not even issuing any penalties on Tata Motors for the breach.

[phaedrus]

Originally Posted by Euromast

But Uncle G maintenance was supposed to be taken care by the supplier??

i guess they still need to be nudged a little, no?

[numb.soul]

Originally Posted by Abhishek901

Yes, but DTC itself is taking it lightly. It is not even issuing any penalties on Tata Motors for the breach.

they hae done that now
4 Crore penalty on Tata Motors

[numb.soul]

Originally Posted by Abhishek901

Thanks



Hindustan Times

they didnt inlude ggn in that jnurm scheme

so no low floor buses for my poor city

n that intercity bus scheme plan has been in TALkS 4 yearsssssssssss

[Abhishek901]

Originally Posted by numb.soul

they hae done that now
4 Crore penalty on Tata Motors

4 crores That's equal to cost of 8 such buses. I wish their level of maintenance reduces even further, so that ultimately DTC recovers even more than the total cost of whole order and purchase other superior buses from that money

[numb.soul]

Originally Posted by Abhishek901

4 crores That's equal to cost of 8 such buses. I wish their level of maintenance reduces even further, so that ultimately DTC recovers even more than the total cost of whole order and purchase other superior buses from that money

gud1

DTC was supposed to pay them 10 crores 4 maintenance
now they wud be paying 6 crores

[Abhishek901]

Hindustan Times



Times of India



Times of India

This means that Tata will stop supplying buses until it finds the problem in the machine or the maintenance. That means further trouble ahead as the old DTC buses and bluelines are being phased out.