No double-deck buses in Bengaluru anytime soon

The wait for double-decker buses on Bengaluru’s roads has just gotten longer.

Karnataka’s new government has scrapped the tender called by the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) in January 2023 to procure five electric double-deck buses. The agency had almost finalised the tender in favour of Ashok Leyland-backed Switch Mobility, the lone bidder.

While Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy cited the “high price” quoted by the company for the decision, a well-placed source said the change in government also played a role.

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“The new dispensation was wary because the tender was called and nearly finalised during the BJP government,” the source added.

The surprising decision came days after the state cabinet approved the procurement of 10 double-decker buses atRs 24 crore.

BMTC officials were waiting for an order from the transport department to issue a purchase order to Switch Mobility when the government asked them to go for a fresh tender.

Another source called the decision “inexplicable”. “There is only one company that manufactures these electric double-decker buses. Mumbai, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh use these buses,” the source said.

“The entire process was completed. We will have to do it all over again.”

The BMTC will wait for a fresh order from the transport department before inviting fresh bids, a senior official said on the condition of anonymity.

The BMTC will have to start from scratch. The entire process — calling the bids, holding meetings, pre-bid discussions, deliberations by the procurement committee and choosing the manufacturer — will take at least three months, the official said.

Reddy, who mooted the proposal during an earlier stint as transport minister, promised to call the tender in a month.

The Department of Urban Land Transport (DULT) and the National Clean Air Programme will contribute Rs 10 crore each. The BMTC will provide the rest, he said.

Double-decker bus routes

1) The BMTC has finalised three routes: Shivajinagar-Majestic via Vidhana Soudha, Attibele-Majestic, and Silk Board Junction-Tin Factory Junction.

2) These will be 11-metre-long, low-floor buses with 65 seats (32+33) and front and back doors.

3) The bus will run for at least 150 km per day, take one-and-a-half hours to charge and need 4.4-4.7 metres of aerial clearance.

Nostalgia

1) Double-decker buses were common sights on Bengaluru's streets until the late 1990s.

2) A bus that ran on route 39 from Gandhi Bazaar to Majestic toppled near Ramakrishna Mutt in the early 1980s, killing 19 schoolchildren.