Many people in Chennai depend on MTC or Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses to go to their destinations as it is cheap. Yesterday, 10th October 2022, tenders have been floated by the state transport corporation to buy 1771 new buses using German bank KfW funds. The news is that out of these 402 buses would be added to the fleet of MTC in Chennai.
On behalf of MTC, this was the second batch of tenders floated by the institute for Road Transport or IRT to buy new buses for the transport corporations belonging to the state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai city would get 242 buses according to the tender that was floated last month.
There would be resemblance of these new buses with the old MTC volvo buses where the last few seats would be at higher platforms. This would be to accommodate the rear engine. Truth is that the 402 buses that would be procured through the recent tender would have conventional low flooring only. The height of the floor between surface and platform would be 900mm and to make the entry or exit easy for the commuters the buses would have 2 footsteps only.
According to an officer from IRT it was clear that these new buses would not be air conditioned but would be friendly for the differently able persons. The existing norms and bus buy codes AIS 052would be followed. It is known that the HC of Madras has issued a directive against an attempt to buy conventional buses with steep steps.