Chennai: Chennai’s first batch of electric buses hit the roads on Monday, with 120 non-AC low-floor buses flagged off by chief minister M K Stalin from the newly upgraded Vyasarpadi depot.While these buses feature modern amenities like a kneeling mechanism for easier boarding by senior citizens, women, children, and persons with disabilities, they lack air-conditioning—a feature now standard in cities like Delhi and Mumbai. The kneeling function lowers the floor by another 250 mm, making the bus accessible for all. The buses, built by OHM Global Mobility (a subsidiary of Ashok Leyland) at 207.9 crore, include a 400 mm floor height, extended 700 mm aisle width for safer standing travel, and CCTV surveillance with three cameras per bus. The fleet is operated by private staff under a gross cost contract model—marking the first MTC fleet run without its own drivers. Under this model, the private operator owns, maintains, and runs the buses, while the govt pays per kilometre of service.These e-buses will operate on key high-density routes including 2B (Kannadasan Nagar–MKB Nagar), 18A (Broadway–Kilambakkam), 37 (Vallalar Nagar–Poonamallee), 46G (MKB Nagar–Koyambedu), and 57 (Vallalar Nagar–Red Hills). Despite covering northern and western corridors, Chennai’s IT corridors—OMR and ECR—were left out of the initial rollout. MTC officials confirmed that air-conditioned e-buses and services on these corridors will be introduced in subsequent batches. The second batch, consisting of 135 buses from Perumbakkam depot, will include 55 AC buses. Three other depots—Poonamallee (45 AC, 80 non-AC), Central (100 AC, 45 non-AC), and Tondiarpet (23 AC, 75 non-AC)—have already been upgraded with charging stations and maintenance yards to support the expanding electric fleet. Overall, under the Chennai City Partnership project, a total of 625 electric buses are set to be introduced in phases across five upgraded depots at 697 crore.“With Chennai’s urbanisation accelerating, carbon emissions from transport tripled—from 10 million tonnes in 2005 to 27 million tonnes in 2019. Diesel buses emit roughly 755 grams of CO₂ per kilometre. The shift to electric buses aims to reduce pollution and improve air quality,” said an official release.
