Having incurred heavy losses, BEST has decided to withdraw a fleet of AC buses from Mumbai roads
Finally, Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) will let go of the proverbial white elephant. Fifty air-conditioned JCBL buses — commonly mistaken for Kinglong buses — will be withdrawn from the existing fleet of 260. The decision has not only been prompted by poor public response to the AC bus service, but also because the city’s salty, humid air has been causing these buses to rust. Sources say that the constant internal corroding would lead to frequent breakdowns.
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“The shelf life of these buses is barely seven years, because of Mumbai’s salty, humid air. So, we have decided to let go of them,” a senior BEST official said on condition of anonymity. These AC buses undergo repairs every five to six months. “The organisation has made a mistake investing in these AC buses. Their scrapping was long due, as they were resulting in heavy losses,” said Ravi Raja, BEST Committee member.
The authorities tried salvaging the situation by removing the AC unit, redoing the windows and running them as regular buses. But, that didn’t work in the long run either as the undertaking costs would far exceed the earnings from each bus. BEST had purchased these 50 buses for R32 crore and now their value has depreciated to R10 crore. After being unable to sell them, BEST has decided to scrap them altogether, in phases.
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