<p>The much awaited feeder buses providing last mile connectivity from metro stations will be delayed as they are expected to hit Delhi roads only by July 2013. <br /><br /></p>.<p>A parliamentary panel had asked Urban Development Ministry to ensure that 300 feeder buses should ply on Metro network within six months during April this year. <br /><br />Sudhir Krishna, Urban Development Secretary, had then promised that the buses will soon be operational, but effectively they will become a city bus service. Krishna had then argued that the buses will have to be handled by Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) as well. <br /><br />The parliamentary committee had then asked the Ministry to work in tangent with the Delhi government and DTC.<br /><br />The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) claims that it had selected an operator soon after the committee’s directions. But the selected operator failed to meet its requirements. <br /><br />“The earlier order of these 300 buses to the previous operator was rejected as the supplier could not comply with DMRC’s technical specifications. We expect the new lot <br />of buses to be inducted from July 2013,” said a DMRC official. <br /><br />After consulting with Delhi government, DMRC has assigned the work to Rajdhani Bus Cluster Service as the cluster operator.<br /><br />“They will be responsible for procurement, operation and maintenance of these 300 buses. We have already issued the letter of acceptance with a contract period of 10 years,” the official added.<br /><br />The buses will be rolled out in batches of 100 when they are ready. DMRC will provide Rs 8 lakh per bus as a grant to the operator. <br /><br />“The operator will pay fixed and variable amount per bus per month for 108 months,” said the official.<br /><br />The buses will operate from 72 State Transport Authority approved routes and cover nearly 60 metro stations with a seating capacity of 28 to 32 persons.<br /><br />Presently, close to 120 feeder buses are plying on 16 different routes with a frequency of 10 to 15 minutes. <br /><br />Metro stations providing these bus services include Netaji Subhash Place, Shastri Park, Rohini West, Kirti Nagar, Rajendra Place, Pitampura, Dwarka sector 9 and 10, Laxmi Nagar and Tilak Nagar.<br /><br /></p>
<p>The much awaited feeder buses providing last mile connectivity from metro stations will be delayed as they are expected to hit Delhi roads only by July 2013. <br /><br /></p>.<p>A parliamentary panel had asked Urban Development Ministry to ensure that 300 feeder buses should ply on Metro network within six months during April this year. <br /><br />Sudhir Krishna, Urban Development Secretary, had then promised that the buses will soon be operational, but effectively they will become a city bus service. Krishna had then argued that the buses will have to be handled by Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) as well. <br /><br />The parliamentary committee had then asked the Ministry to work in tangent with the Delhi government and DTC.<br /><br />The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) claims that it had selected an operator soon after the committee’s directions. But the selected operator failed to meet its requirements. <br /><br />“The earlier order of these 300 buses to the previous operator was rejected as the supplier could not comply with DMRC’s technical specifications. We expect the new lot <br />of buses to be inducted from July 2013,” said a DMRC official. <br /><br />After consulting with Delhi government, DMRC has assigned the work to Rajdhani Bus Cluster Service as the cluster operator.<br /><br />“They will be responsible for procurement, operation and maintenance of these 300 buses. We have already issued the letter of acceptance with a contract period of 10 years,” the official added.<br /><br />The buses will be rolled out in batches of 100 when they are ready. DMRC will provide Rs 8 lakh per bus as a grant to the operator. <br /><br />“The operator will pay fixed and variable amount per bus per month for 108 months,” said the official.<br /><br />The buses will operate from 72 State Transport Authority approved routes and cover nearly 60 metro stations with a seating capacity of 28 to 32 persons.<br /><br />Presently, close to 120 feeder buses are plying on 16 different routes with a frequency of 10 to 15 minutes. <br /><br />Metro stations providing these bus services include Netaji Subhash Place, Shastri Park, Rohini West, Kirti Nagar, Rajendra Place, Pitampura, Dwarka sector 9 and 10, Laxmi Nagar and Tilak Nagar.<br /><br /></p>