Maharashtra: MSRTC to introduce electric AC buses on Pune route

The Maharashtra State Road Corporation (MSRTC) has planned to introduce nearly 100 trips of 'Shivai' electric buses on the Borivali-Thane-Pune routes by the end of this year. The process of setting up charging stations as well as maintenance and repair workshops has already started between both the cities. The MSRTC had launched its first e-bus service between Pune and Ahmednagar on June 1.

Shivai, the air-conditioned e-buses of the MSRTC, would cover the distance of about 180km between the two cities in approximately four hours. The maximum speed of these buses is 80km per hour. Currently, 158 trips of Shivneri bus services are being operated between Mumbai and Pune. On daily average, 3,300 passengers travel by Shivneri. Similarly, 18 trips of Shivneri ply between Thane and Pune. The average daily ridership of this premium service is 500 passengers.

Elaborating about the plan of e-Shivai buses, the MSRTC official said, “Most of the Shivneri bus services between Mumbai and Pune will be gradually replaced by Shivai. In the first phase, the service will be rolled out on the routes between Pune, Borivali and Thane by the end of this year.” The existing Shivneri fleet will be deployed on other routes, it was added.

A fully-charged Shivai can run 300 km at one go. The vehicles with 322KV batteries would take three hours to get fully-recharged if they completely run out of battery.

The MSRTC has around 16,000 buses in its fleet. The Corporation has placed an order for the procurement of 700 non-AC buses and 150 AC electric counterparts. Of 150 buses, 100 will be introduced on the Mumbai-Pune route while the rest of them will be introduced on other inter-city routes of the states.

“We will get 1,000 electric buses in a phase-wise manner under the central government’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme. We expect to get the first slot of 150 electric buses by June-end or by the first week of July,” said the official.