With the aim of making the Delhi Metro stations simply accessible to commuters, the DMRC has planned to come up with a Metro Link Bus Service scheme under which it will acquire CNG-built-in feeder buses and give them away to private operators to sprint.
Metro rail officials were reported to have said that in the first phase, almost 60 Swaraj Mazda and Tata vehicles will be purchased by DMRC for operation all along 36 routes. The numbers will be added to subject to the practicability of the project and assessment of DMRC and State Transport Authority (STA).
Each bus will include a maximum seating capacity for 18 to 24 people and a maximum standing capacity of 10. The whole time-span of every route will be 3 km to 15 km and the time schedule will be determined by DMRC because of needs of travelers and traffic situations.
DMRC officials were also reported to have stated that the buses would be entrusted to private operators on lease-and-transfer basis. The operators will be needed to pay back the expenditure of the vehicles in five years subsequent to which they will develop into owners of the buses. The buses will be built-in with GPS in order that their movements can be pinpointed. They will also be consisted with proviso for utilization of smart cards, which could be made ready at a later stage.
The planned fare structure is Rs. 5 for a distance up to 8 km and Rs. 8 for a distance above 8 km, monthly passes have also been planned at the rate of Rs. 450 for distance up to 8 km and Rs.720 for distance more than 8 km.
A few of the Metro stations to be enclosed by these routes are: Welcome, Shastri Park, Vishwa Vidyalaya, Inderlok, Keshav Puram, Netaji Subhas Place, Pitampura, Rohini East, Rohini West, Kirti Nagar, Indraprastha, Subhash Nagar, Janakpuri West, Dwarka Mor, Dwarka Sec-10, Dwarka Sec-11, Dwarka Sec- 14 and Dwarka Sec-16.
