India’s largest passenger bus maker Tata Motors will supply 40 buses to Naya Raipur Development Authority (NRDA) for its Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) project.
The buses being purchased by the Chhattisgarh Government from Tata Motors would ply between Raipur and Naya Raipur under BRTS mode. The buses will commence plying between Raipur and Naya Raipur by March next year.
“The buses are a part of the nation-wide 2,700 orders bagged by Tata Motors, for Tata ‘URBAN’ buses under JNNURM — II scheme,” a company Press release issued here on Monday stated. Tata Motors also announced that it has received yet another order to supply 623 Tata Marcopolo buses to the State Transport Authorities in East India.
The order includes 120 buses bagged from Kolkata (Calcutta State Transport Corporation), 120 buses from Meghalaya (Meghalaya Urban Development Authority), 73 buses from North East Tripura (Tripura Urban Transport Company limited) 270 buses from Assam (Assam State Transport Corp) besides the 40 buses to be supplied to NRDA.
These buses are fitted with CCTV cameras that can record each and every movement inside the bus. Wider passage-way for free movement, wider window panes for better visibility along with wider and lower entry/exit doors, make these new buses safe and convenient for commuters to enjoy public transportation.
Tata URBAN buses incorporate Intelligence Transport Systems (ITS) for public information, through GPS via electronic destination display boards, indicating expected time of arrival at bus stops and route announcements within the bus, it stated.
These buses also enhance the operational efficiency for State Transport Units (STU’s), as these are compatible to hook-up with a central control room server, through which an operator monitors the performance of each bus in terms of number of trips, off-road position, adherence to pre-scheduled maintenance by monitoring real-time health of the bus, through OBD (on-board diagnostics). Through this feature, the operators can also moderate and redesign the frequency of buses on every route, it stated.
New generation ISBe Cummins fuel efficient engines in the Tata ‘URBAN’, with new 6-speed overdrive gear box and cable shift mechanism for effortless gear shifts, ensures adequate pick-up and power while ferrying passengers. A large number of Tata ‘URBAN’ buses being fit with ‘Automatic Transmission’, ensures greater on-road performance for a smooth jerk-free ride.
Ravi Pisharody, Executive Director, Commercial Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors. “With these orders, Tata Motors reinforces its position as a leading partner to state transportation corporations, in providing them with the right product and service solutions, enabling them to create and maintain a sustainable public transportation system. Balancing affordability for passengers, along with a world-class ‘Metro’ like experience and long-term economic viability is a need of every transport undertaking and we at Tata Motors are committed to that need. We will shortly commence delivery of our ‘URBAN’ buses.”
He further added “These buses are manufactured at Tata Marcopolo Motors limited (TMMl) world-class facility in Dharwad and lucknow, with state-of-the-art technologies and expertise in systems for bodybuilding and bus body design, conforming to international standards in quality and safety as well as ‘roll-over tests’ as mandated by the Urban Development Ministry. With over 60,000 Marcopolo buses plying across the length and breadth of the country, these buses are also marketed in all Tata Motors focused markets globally.”
Tata Motors will impart training to drivers of the STU’s/operators on handling the new ‘URBAN’ buses, including general service and maintenance. The company is committed to support these buses by leveraging its large network of over 1,800 authorised service set-ups all of which are geared to provide best-in-class service support, over the life cycle of these buses. At strategic locations we have upgraded our set-ups for the maintenance and repair of these new generation bus bodies. Tata Motors has also developed Electric Hybrid buses and Articulated buses to meet the future transport needs for the ‘Envisaged Smart Cities’.