New AC E-Buses to Hit the Road

It’s good news for the daily commuters; forty new AC electric buses will hit the road from 26^th August. These buses are bigger in size than the existing ones. They will help in reducing both air and noise pollution. The electric buses are more spacious and they make no noise or fumes. With the rise of e-buses, the air-pollution will also be curbed. All this is a part of the city’s plan to phase out diesel-run buses by 2030 and replace them with pollution-free e-buses. They will run 150km on a single charge. West Bengal Transport Corporation has installed charging stations at Nonapukur, Kasba, New Town and Belgharia; in addition to intermediate charging stations in Howrah and Santragachi. These buses have been manufactured with a lot of research and development; these buses have been built with Lithium-ion batteries on their rooftop as a back-up. The batteries will prevent the e-buses from breaking down while traveling through waterlogged roads. According to a WBTC officer, apart from being environment-friendly, e-buses have cheaper operating cost and lower maintenance expense as they have fewer parts than diesel-run buses. Both the center and the state has been pushing for the e-buses, the center has even allocated Rs 10,000 crore as subsidy to buy 7,000 buses over three years.