Pimpri: Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) service on the 12.5 km long Dapodi-Nigdi stretch of the Pune-Mumbai Highway was launched by Pimpri Chinchwad Mayor Rahul Jadhav here on Friday. This is the fifth BRTS service in the jurisdiction of the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporations.
The new BRTS route will have 623 buses plying, benefiting nearly over a lakh commuters from Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad.
Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Shravan Hardikar and Pune Mahanagar Parihavan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) Chairperson Nayana Gunde were also present at the launch ceremony in Nigdi. PMPML’s newly constructed Annabhau Sathe bus terminal in Nigdi was also inaugurated.Hardikar said that nearly Rs 1,000 crore have been spent on the BRTS route. The new service will strengthen the public transport system in the city, he said.
The BRTS route needs buses having doors on both sides. PMPML has increased the number of buses plying on the Dapodi-Nigdi route to 273. These include 113 PMPML and 139 buses on contract basis, besides 21 buses which were plying on other BRTS routes. The old buses plying on the Dapodi-Nigdi buses have been sent to other routes.
The new route has 36 bus stops, five subways and four grade separators.
PMPML’s Transport Manager Vilas Bandal said that old buses have been repaired on a war footing in view of the launch of the new BRTS route. “The buses will make over 2,000 trips in a single day on this new route,” he said.
