First Electric Green Bus introduced in Chennai

- Johnpaul, 27August2019, Chennai

          Chennai Metro Transport Corporation is gifted with a new Green Bus. MTC adopts new electric buses from now to control air pollution. The first air-conditioned vehicle goes on the A1 bus route four times a day depending on the charging capacity. Soon the cities of Tamilnadu will get 525 Electric buses.

Earlier, there were proposals by the Central government to bring in control of the air pollution in metro cities. The project is undertaken to base the proposals made by central government scheme namely FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles).  The Green Bus will run from MGR Central Bus Depot to Thiruvanmiyur. The bus tickets are charged from minimum Rs.11 to Rs.25 the maximum. There are two batteries charged and swapped after one full round trip.

The Bus has no Engine and no gearbox. Ashok Leyland Company has appointed two drivers and the tickets are collected by MTC Conductor. The bus looks White and Green in colour and air-conditioned inside. The bus can carry up to 50 passengers in which 32 can sit and travel. The floor is filled with grass designed mats and the seats are arranged with comfortable legging space. The bus can travel in 40km speed and that never happens as it runs in a highly congested route.

The first bus is introduced in Chennai by the Ashok Leyland Company on a trial basis. The bus that costs about 1.5 crore looks smaller than the MTC buses which were bought at 15lacs. It uses the MNC batteries imported from China that consumes less space and stores more energy. The bus can run about two trips from Thiruvanmiyur to Central at one charge of the battery.  The speed and power consumption on this bus were continuously noted by them. The next bus would start trips on another 10days said Mr.Sathyam, an employee who monitors the present one.

There were very few people choosing this AC bus as it does not accept the concession passes. The bus is fully air-conditioned and there were two fire extinguishers along with a glass breaking hammer as safety measures.  People were not aware of the charges on the bus and did not prefer to get in. The Green bus is a real gift to the city as it would reduce race driving and control the pollution in the city.