Noida: A dry run of 45 electric buses was conducted on Thursday on selected routes in Noida and Greater Noida, with chief minister Yogi Adityanath set to inaugurate the service from Lucknow on Friday.In its inaugural run, 11 buses each will operate in Noida, Greater Noida and the Yamuna Expressway area, with the remaining 12 stationed in Lucknow. From June 15, when flight operations begin from Noida International Airport, the fleet is set to rise to 110, with Noida getting the largest share of 55 buses. These will run from the Botanical Garden depot, connecting Greater Noida West, Noida International Airport, Surajpur collectorate, Noida airport and New Bus Adda in Ghaziabad, among others.In Greater Noida, the buses will ply on four routes and connect Gaur Chowk, Surajpur T Point, Pari Chowk and Noida International Airport. The four routes in YEIDA areas will connect Galgotias University, Noida International University, GBU, GIMS, Pari Chowk, Jagat Farm, Rabupura and the airport, among others.UPSRTC regional manager Manoj Kumar said the inauguration will be held simultaneously at three local venues — Shilp Haat in Noida, Dadri bus depot in Greater Noida and the Medical Devices Park in the YEIDA area — as the CM flags off the service remotely.The buses are to run every 30 to 60 minutes during the first six months, with a maximum initial fare of Rs 30. Once formally launched, fares are to move to a three-tier structure of Rs 20, Rs 30 and Rs 50. While UPSRTC is to operate the fleet, the viability gap funding is to be borne by Noida Authority.The Rs 675-crore project originally envisaged 500 electric buses, split evenly between 9-metre and 12-metre models, across 25 routes in Noida, Greater Noida and the YEIDA zone, with Noida allocated 300 buses and GNIDA and YEIDA 100 each. Authorities later opted for a phased rollout, prioritising high-demand corridors to avoid the fate of the earlier city bus service, which collapsed under financial strain.Roadways, private operators to launch airport bus servicesNoida International Airport Ltd (NIAL) nodal officer Shailendra Bhatia said a network of state-run and private buses will begin connecting Noida airport with Delhi-NCR and neighbouring cities from June 15.The services will operate from 4.30 am until late at night. Apart from the new Noida city bus network, the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) will run buses from Agra, Aligarh, Hathras, Firozabad and Mathura to the airport.Haryana Roadways will provide connectivity from Palwal, Faridabad, Gurugram and Chandigarh, while the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) will operate services from Sarai Kale Khan, Anand Vihar and Kashmere Gate.The airport has also tied up with private operators, including LeafyBus, PTC Skybus, Zingbus and Indo Canadian Express, to offer direct bus services for air passengers travelling to and from the airport.
