Added features go missing on cluster 1 buses

Faulty instruments to be replaced soon

Unlike the low-floor buses of Delhi Transport Corporation, the cluster buses were launched with several added features to modernise the road transport network in the Capital. 

However, less than a year since the bus service was launched in May, 2011, some of the features like clocks and temperature readers have gone missing from over 90 buses operating in south Delhi under cluster 1.

Some of the major routes on which 96 buses under cluster one are operational include 411 (Ambedkar Nagar to Mori Gate), 419 (Ambedkar Nagar to Old Delhi Railway Station) and 522 (Ambedkar Nagar to Arya Samaj Road).

The operators of cluster 1 – Star Bus Pvt Ltd - say the devices have been removed from the buses as they were found to be faulty and they would be reinstalled soon.

“The instruments had some technical faults. We are replacing them with new ones and the replacement has already started,” said Garjar Singh of Star bus. However, Singh refused to confirm the number of buses (out of 96) in which the instruments were replaced.

The state-of-the-art cluster buses are equipped with on-board passenger information systems to tell commuters about the expected time of arrival and electronic ticketing machines, apart from global positioning systems. The buses operating in cluster 1 also had features like clocks and temperature readers. However, the additional features of cluster 1 are now missing.

Officials of Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System (DIMTS) say providing such features was not the part of the original contract with the concessionaire. DIMTS is the consulting company that drafted corporatisation of the private bus operation scheme for Delhi and would supervise cluster bus operations on behalf of the Delhi government.

The transport department last year had divided nearly 650 bus routes across the city into 17 clusters, each comprising profitable and non-profitable routes and decided to allot each cluster to a private operator.