Kolkata: The West Bengal State Transport Department has decided to gradually phase out its fleet of electric buses and replace them with CNG buses.
The electric buses were started in Kolkata 7 years back with much fanfare to reduce pollution on the roads. However, poor experience with these electric buses has led to this change in policy. Currently, the West Bengal Transport Department has 80 electric buses in its various depots. These buses are 9 meters or 12 meters long, and each costs between Rs 95 lakh to Rs 1.30 crore.
The bus manufacturers had initially claimed these buses could run an average of 100-110 km on a full charge. These were supposed to run efficiently for 12 years on the roads. Unfortunately, the reality has proved to be different. The battery power has decreased fast, and subsequently, the mileage has come down to 70-80 km. In addition, the maintenance cost is substantial, and there is always a severe challenge in the availability of spare parts.
Each electric bus has 3 batteries, and each costs almost Rs 18 lakh. With the batteries becoming weak, the bus services are almost coming to a standstill. Very few OEMs supply the spare parts, leading to the creation of unholy monopolies. The whole business, therefore, becomes unviable in this situation.
However, keeping in mind the angle of reducing pollution, the State Transport Department is planning to buy 200 CNG AC buses. Each of these buses will cost Rs 42-44 lakhs. They will be eco-friendly as well as long-running. They will run smoothly for 15 years without any battery issues.
The government plans to start 30-40 CNG buses before Durga Puja only. However, there are still not enough CNG stations available to supply gas to these buses.
Currently, only the Kasba depot has a CNG pump. There are plans to set up CNG pumps at the Tollygunge, Barasat, and Howrah Station depots too.
The future of the 14 electric vehicle charging stations has become doubtful.
Discussion about this post