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The capital would witness another step towards becoming a world class city next year when the "best buses in India" would be pushed into service for public transport here. The Delhi government has shortlisted three companies for supplying low floor mega buses that would have state-of-the-art systems like tubeless tyres, hydraulic doors, LED signages and some would be airconditioned. The orders for a minimum of 625 buses is going to be placed by the end of March and delivery would start within six months. This order can be increased by anywhere up to 25 %, which could take the figure to 780 buses.

"Three companies — Tata, Ashok Leyland and King Long (a Chinese firm) — have been shortlisted. We will complete the tendering process in a few months and delivery would begin from August or September. Each of these buses have a capacity of 80 to 85 passengers and the price ranges between Rs 40-45 lakh," Delhi's transport minister Haroon Yusuf told TOI. Since the government can increase the order, Yusuf said the city could get from 700 to 750 buses.

Of the minimum order of 625 buses, 125 would be airconditioned. "These buses would have air curtains so that when the door is open, there's minimal loss of cooling. There's going to be a monthly schedule of delivery of buses and the complete delivery would take about 1.5 years," said DTC CMD Anshu Prakash. What's more, these buses won't wait for the high capacity corridors to be ready. Yusuf said a high capacity bus is already running on ‘normal' roads from Hauz Khas to Madras Hotel and 12 routes — like outer Mudrikas and those in south and east Delhi — have already been finalised for the new buses. More routes are going to be decided soon. "Being low floor buses, the roads they would be running on would have to be restored. The height of speed breakers on these routes would have to be checked," said Prakash.

With their induction, the government claims Delhi would get the ‘best' buses in India. Only one multinational company manufactures such low floor buses but they are diesel-powered. "These would be first clean CNG buses in India to have such features. These buses have to comply with Delhi's stringent standards," said Yusuf.

Since these buses would set the stage for Delhi's promised transformation to a world class city, they would be used during the Commonwealth Games. In fact, revamping the transport system is among the biggest things that need to be done for preparing Delhi for 2010.

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