After extending its services to various routes, Delhi Metro now plans to make commuting easier for people by starting AC feeder buses on 20 routes. While the idea sounds good, many commuters don’t think the services will be smooth.
The service of normal feeder bus has never been smooth as per reports. Recently, the service was on hold for almost two months. It resumed only last week that too on 11 routes out of the 15. According to DMRC officials, all the problems have occurred due to the private operator Rajasthan Bombay Transport Corporation, who was given the contract to run the buses.
Anuj Dayal, PRO, DMRC, says that they were not happy with the working of RBTC. Even commuters agree. Neeraj Bhandari, a software developer, who often takes the feeder bus for Rohini Sector 15, says the service of the feeder buses is never reliable. “Very often you would come to know that the drivers and conductors are on strike or there’s a tiff between the operator and DMRC. This has been happening for the last one year. I’m really not sure if DMRC would be able to pull off more buses (AC or non-AC) well,” he says, adding that now he mostly opts for a rickshaw or auto instead of waiting for the feeder bus.
Another regular commuter, Surbhi Chopra, a student from Mayur Vihar Phase III, who often takes the feeder bus to and from Yamuna Bank Metro station, thinks that the DMRC should really consider upgrading their services. “There are very few buses and thus the service is very slow. And most of the time there are no buses at all,” says a disappointed Surbhi, who hopes that with the flagging off of AC buses the condition will improve.
Anuj Dayal promises that this time when the service resumes completely, it will be better. “We have filed a tender for a good operator and we are not going to finalise one unless the operator’s services suit our standards,” he says optimistically, adding that the services to all the existing routes plus a few additional would soon resume.