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Indian buses in 2021 and 2022 (by Dick Gilbert)
Last updated 28 August 2024
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A Delhi Transport Corporation Tata 1624 LPO Starbus (DL 1P C8625) on a stormy summer afternoon in 2022. It's working on service 611A which runs west to east across the city from Trilokpuri 26 Block to Dhaula Kuan
In 2021, Nandan Polkapara, a Delhi bus and train enthusiast, contacted me kindly offering to take photos of some of the buses currently operating in the city. He was only 16 at the time! I love India (and its buses!) so was pleased to accept the proposal, and here are the results.
Taken on the the same overcast day in 2022 as the Delhi Transport Corporation low-entry Tata 1624 LPO Starbus at the top of the page, here is another one. LPO, by the way, stands for Long Platform Overhang and indicates that the bodywork extends well beyond the wheelbase, at the front or the back, or both. All red buses, including this example (DL 1P C8339) have air conditioning. Green ones don't.
Seen in 2021, this is a Delhi Transport Corporation low-floor Ashok Leyland ULE (DL 1P C8487) at Kendriya Terminal after serving the 944 route from Sultanpuri. ULE stands for Ultra Low Entry. It has a Cummins engine, and all Delhi buses run on compressed natural gas (CNG).
Here's another Ashok Leyland ULE (air conditioned, DL 1P C9974) on route 781 at South Moti Bagh on its way to New Delhi railway station.
This is a Tata LPO 1613, puttering away towards Anand Vihar Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT) on route 311A. The route starts at Ambedkar Nagar Terminal in the south, crossing the Yamura River east of New Delhi and ending at Anand Vihar, where there is an interchange between the buses, the Delhi Metro (blue line and pink line) and a large railway station (Northern Railway). Tata started delivering these buses to the Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transit System (DIMTS) in 2014. The bodies were built at Tata's Dharwad facility which was established as a joint venture with Marcopolo (a partnership which ended in 2021).
Seen in 2021 is a Delhi Transit Ashok Leyland FE SLF (front-engined semi low floor) based on the Viking. This example (DL 1P D4836) is a cluster bus, meaning that a private operator has successfully bid for a group of city routes, normally awarded for 10 years. It is operating on route 793 from Vikas Puri Terminal in the west to Delhi Secretariat (Raj Ghat Thermal Power Station) in the east.
Here's another Ashok Leyland FE SLF (DL 1P D0274), this time serving the 534 route to Anand Vihar ISBT (inter-state bus terminal).
This cluster bus (DL 1P D5740) is a Delhi Transit (DIMTS) JBM Citylife 2327CL. These buses are partly based on the Solaris Urbino and are built by JBM Motors in Kosi Kalan (Haryana). It is operating on route 51 which runs from Old Delhi railway station to the Delhi transit depot at Sarojini Nagar, 17 stops in 14 km.
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