Replacement of old TNSTC buses in Coimbatore not anytime soon

The likelihood for replacement of damaged Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) buses plying on city and moffusil routes seems to be bleak, as the tender process is yet to be completed.

The likelihood for replacement of damaged Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) buses plying on city and moffusil routes seems to be bleak, as the tender process is yet to be completed.

By all indications, the travelling public will have to put up with the discomfort caused by the damaged window panes, lighting, flooring and roofing, for months to come.

According to a senior official of TNSTC, Coimbatore, an announcement on the number of new buses to be allotted for the Western region for replacement is awaited.

Fund constraint was cited to be the cause for the apparent let-up in the maintenance of the buses. A huge expenditure was incurred on the schemes of concessional and free travel. Nevertheless, there was no compromise on safety as the mechanical maintenance was being carried out at the workshop promptly, the official said.

The Policy Note 2023-24 of the Transport Department states that the government has taken earnest steps to replace the old buses with new ones by way of entering into an agreement with KfW (German Development Bank) to procure 12,000 BS-VI buses and 2,000 Electric buses, over a five-year period.

In the first phase, the idea is to replace 2,213 diesel buses into BSVI diesel buses and supply 500 zero pollution electric buses. However, the share for TNSTC, Coimbatore, is not known yet.

Eighty per cent of the expenditure constitutes interest-free loan by the German Development Bank and the remaining 20 per cent investment is by the State government. As per official information 2,213 diesel buses are to be replaced State-wide in addition to deployment of 500 electric buses. Procurement of project components are in various stages of tenders.