Electric Bus Trial Run In Bhubaneswar

Photograph: Suprakash Mishra

Bhubaneswar: The Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) carried out trial run of an electric bus here on Saturday.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had recently announced that 50 electric buses will be introduced to the Mo Bus fleet. This will reduce both air and noise pollution in the city.

Olectra, an Indian firm in collaboration with China’s BYD, carried out the test on Master Canteen-Khurda route. More trials will be carried out in the next 10 days. Other bidders will also conduct tests in a phased manner. The whole process is expected to take at least six months, official sources said.

Meanwhile, Central Electricity Supply Utility (CESU) has installed a temporary charging station near Janta Maidan.

The electric buses are equipped with air conditioning vents, USB charging points adjacent to every seat and three cameras for security purpose.

The CRUT has earmarked 38.7 km Priority Transit Corridors in Bhubaneswar and will need 148 electric buses to transport an estimated 1.92 lakh passengers daily.