THE KILLER
Blueline buses got a reprieve on Thursday with the Delhi High Court allowing them to continue to ply on Capital roads, till the expiry of their permits in June 2012.
The Delhi government is considering running the killer
Blueline buses for the Metro feeder service, sources in the transport department said.
Unlike the
Bluelines, these buses would strictly follow the time table, a transport department official said.
The new system is expected to end the
Blueline rat race on crowded roads to pick up more passengers that used to kill hundreds of people every year.
" The department feels that the existing ridership of the public transport system is more than adequate even if all
Bluelines go off the road," Tulsi said.
He said that in addition to buses, strength of other public transport vehicles would be also increased and that by January 2011, 15,785 buses ( excluding
bluelines), in three categories, with combined ridership capacity of 10,213,500 will be in service.
" Our present strength is more than the combined strength of DTC and
Bluelines in 2008.
THE " KILLER"
Blueline buses appear to have hit their last stretch after a controversial journey of 18 years.
On Wednesday, government sources confirmed that transport minister Arvinder Singh Lovely had sought the opinion of his department's officials as well as those of the Delhi Transport Corporation ( DTC) on induction of
Blueline buses under the kilometre scheme.
However, the same rowdy drivers who are behind the wheels now would be driving the DTC- monitored
Bluelines.
It is hoped that induction of these private buses would replace the
Bluelines and work in tandem with the Delhi Transport Corporation ( DTC) fleet of approximately 6,500 buses.
Short of ideas and unwilling to accept the systemic flaws, the government, in a decision that defied logic, painted these buses blue and re- introduced them as
Bluelines in January 1994.
The state cabinet and the transport department had decided to make a decision on phasing out the
Bluelines around October 25 -- the day when the notification keeping them off the roads expires.
Around 1,600
Bluelines buses were taken off the Delhi roads during the Commonwealth Games.
