Month: July 2020

A Sneak Peak Of Wadala Depot And Its Red Minis From Above

BEST’s Wadala Depot, located at the border of Wadala (West) and Dadar (East) is among their oldest ones. It is also the depot where people need to go to get their spare change returned.

The depot is home to several types of buses, including the converted non-AC Cerita fleet and also the mini-bus fleet belonging to MP Enterprises (MPE).

Have you ever wondered what the Wadala Depot looks like from above? Or at least partially? Look no further, well, actually a little further.

While the image captures most of the areas south of the depot, you can see the tail end of the depot, with its buses and the minis visible.

This image was clicked by Akshay Mane; you can follow Akshay on Instagram here: @mane_aky.

That’s all from me for now. Featured image: Wadala Depot by Suyash Padekar on Google Earth.

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Take A Look At Gorai Depot From Behind

Okay, by now I assume you’ve either bookmarked my blog because you love the aerial shots or you have decided never again would you visit because your bored. At my end, it’s becoming difficult since there are fewer and fewer images that I can find.

Here is an image of the Gorai Depot, BEST’s northernmost depot as well as the second westernmost depot. As stated earlier, the westernmost depot is the Malvani Depot.

These two pictures were clicked in May 2018 and January 2019 by Rupesh Ghadge. Do follow Rupesh on Instagram here: @the_black_advento.

Here is the first one, clicked at night in May 2018.

And here is the second one from January 2019.

This image was clicked during the December 2018-January 2019 strike by staffers of BEST. The strike ultimately prompted then Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi to allow BEST to tap in to the MCGM’s budget.

I don’t support bus strikes (or strikes of any kind for that matter); do read my earlier article on why: Strike It Off! (yes, the title was inspired by Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off).

Featured image: AS-461 bound for Gorai Depot waiting at Mulund Check Naka Bus Station (Picture clicked by Srikanth Ramakrishnan in April 2015).

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Take A Look At PMPML Electric Buses Charging

I’m sorry for the lack of posts in the last few days. I’ve actually been drafting slightly longer articles for you guys over the last three weeks. Anyway, just so that you don’t forget who I am, here is another post.

Pune has a large fleet of electric buses. (I travelled in them in February 2020, and I’ll share a review of it soon). These buses are owned by the Pune Smart City Development Corporation Limited (PSCDCL) and operated by the Pune Mahanagar Paricahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML). One lot belongs to the Nigdi Bhakti Shakti Depot and the other lot the the Hadapsar Bhekrai Nagar Depot.

Here is a set of them parked and charging at the Bhekrai Nagar Depot in Hadapsar. The picture was clicked by Purvesh Chithore.

Looks cool eh? Here is a picture of them at night:

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A post shared by Purvesh Chithore (@chitz_o_graphy) on

Do follow Purvesh here: @chitz_o_graphy.

The Electric buses are being charged under the canopy that is visible in white colour.

Featured Image: PMPML Electric Bus (PSCDCL)

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Here’s A View Of Dharavi Depot From Above

Back to BEST. For now. The city’s first depot to house electric buses (well, at least Hybrids) was Dharavi which housed the Tata Starbus Diesel-Electric Hybrid fleet. After that came the Backbay Depot that housed the first set of Olectra (then known as Goldstone) buses followed by Dharavi’s twin – the Kala Killa Depot.

For those who may not know, the Kala Killa Depot was formally opened on 31 Janaury 2016. Until then the land behind the Dharavi Depot was never formally used as a depot. Between 2005 and 2016, buses attached to the Kurla Depot were parked here because the Kurla Depot was being rebuilt by Kanakia (part of it is a multi-tier depot, visible from the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road and part of it is Kanakia Zillion) after being damaged during the July 2005 floods.

Here is a photograph of the depot that was clicked by Shashank Parade, a photographer attached to the Press Trust of India (PTI).

Do follow Shashank on Instagram here: @shashankparade.

You can see the Hybrid fleet in the left side of this image. Beyond the depot, you see the Dharavi Loop Road/Sion Bandra Link Road, the Mahim Nature Park and the Mithi River. Those tall buildings you see are in the Bandra Kurla Complex.

That’s all for now. See ya’ll next time.

Featured Image: Dharavi Depot by Santosh Nadar on Google Maps

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Look At These Buses Parked At The Parel ST Depot In The Rain

Time to take a teeny weeny break from BEST and look at another transco from the region. This time it’s MSRTC, aka ST. The MSRTC has five depots in the Mumbai Division of which three – Parel, Mumbai Central and Kurla Nehru Nagar – are located in Mumbai City limits while the remaining two – Uran and Panvel – are located in Navi Mumbai. Among the first three, the Parel Depot is home to the Shivneri and Ashwamedh fleet. I have posted about them back in 2016; you can check it out here: [Photos] Depots of Luxury.

Essentially the Parel Depot is home to the Volvo and Scania fleet along with the Swargate Depot in Pune.

Here is a video (and a photograph) of the depot from August last year, during the rains.

You can also see the Elphinstone/Prabhadevi flyover behind on Senapati Bapat Marg/Tulsi Pipe Road.

Click on the arrow on the edge of the video to see a photograph in the next frame.

Pretty cool no? The video and photo were shot by Lakshman Aroskar. Do follow Lakshman on Instagram here: @laxmanaroskar .

That’s all from me this time. Till the next time, enjoy the view of the Volvo and Scania fleet.

Featured image: Parel ST Depot by Sameer Shigvan/Google Maps

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This Blog Is Now Five Years Old

Okay, so this post should have gone out yesterday (9 July) but it didn’t. I’ve been a bit busy off late and haven’t been able to post much. I have at least six pending drafts that I intend to publish before this month ends.

I started this blog on 9 July 2015 because I wanted to write and after an internship that used WordPress, I wanted to do something of my own, with WordPress. Over the next five years there have been ups and downs, this blog has taken me places, gotten me internships and more. It also led to me picking up a career in writing (one that is no longer), but still.

I want to take a moment and thank some folks out there for their support. A shoutout to my Transit Group and its myriad members, folks who I’ve met thru my days at Swarajya and UnFound, folks that I’ve come across on Twitter, SkyscraperCity, The UnrealTimes, FEE and OpIndia, folks who have helped me out.

Anyway, I should now head back to getting those drafts published so that you folks can read it. I intend to cross the previous monthly records (10 posts in December 2015 and 12 posts in June 2020) as we continue to remain locked up due to the Wuhan Virus pandemic.

Also, a special shoutout to Sagar Aghore and his Brother P-Touch H110 for the featured image.

P.S: It is ironic that Google decided to chose this date to suspend my AdSense account. I’ve written a lot in May and June, pretty consistent and thus my traffic went up. As a result of that, ad revenue also shot up. So last month Google decided that it will play the role of the big, bad regulator and killed my ad revenue by limited the number of ads. Now, with practically zero ads on my site, it has come to the amazing conclusion that there were fraudulent clicks (WHEN THERE WERE NO ADS VISIBLE) and has suspended my account for a month.

If you want to know why I don’t trust Big Tech, especially Google, watch Season 7 of Elementary. Odker and Google are very similar.

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Have You Ever Wondered How Mumbai Monorail Switches Tracks?

It’s a simple question. How does the monorail switch tracks? We’ve seen regular trains and the metro switching tracks. But it’s a bit difficult with the monorail right? Especially given that the train traverses along a straddle beam?

Well, the answer is simple, truth be told. The entire straddle beam moves.

Don’t believe me? Watch this video:

If you look at the switch tracks on Google Earth, you’ll notice these are sections with a concrete platform below the beams.

Here are two such images. You can see that where the Switch track is present, the straddle beam is resting on concrete and the blue control sheds that you see in the video above, are also visible.

Monorail Chembur Switch Track 1

In the picture above, you can see the tracks aligned straight. In the pictures below, you can see the tracks aligned differently.

Monorail Chembur Switch Track 2

So how exactly does this work?

The straddle beam for the switch is mounted on a set of wheels that are perpendicular to the beam itself. These wheels move from on side of the viaduct to the other side but to varying lengths, thus forming the curve that you see.

Below is another example of how the switch happens, this time from the Osaka Monorail in Osaka, Japan.

Fascinating, isn’t it, how a monorail switches tracks?

Well, that’s all from me for this time. Hope you enjoyed this post. Once normalcy returns, I’ll try and get a good video of the monorail switching tracks.

Featured Image: Mumbai Monorail by Ashwin Kumar on Flickr.

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Depot Atop A Drain: Look At Delhi’s Cluster Buses Parked At Sunehri Pullah From Above

Did you know Delhi has two bus depots built atop a drain? Yes. The Sunehri Pullah Depot and the Kushak Nallah Depot on either side of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

Both were built around 2010, when the Commonwealth Games came to Delhi. The city’s infrastructure went in for a much needed overhaul prior to the games (with the Delhi Metro Airport Express also being built at the same time along with the Violet Line that saw the Zamrudpur accident). Both of them are built on branches of the Barapullah Nallah. Both of them house the orange-coloured Cluster buses operated by the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Ltd (DIMTS). Older readers may recall that I named them Orange Faeries in 2015.

So here is a picture of them, parked at the Western side (next to the Lodhi Road entrance) of the Sunehari Pullah depot.

They look beautiful don’t they?

This was clicked by Sohaib Ilyas. Please do follow him on Instagram: @iamsohaibilyas.

Delhi has three types of buses, the standard green non-AC buses, the maroon AC buses and the orange Cluster Buses. Cluster buses were introduced by the late former chief minister Sheila Dikshit as a replacement after phasing out the Blue Line buses.

To know more about their difference, do read this: Delhi and its Bus Melee

These Orange Faeries look cool from above, don’t they?

Featured Image: Delhi Cluster Buses (Aam Aadmi Party)

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You’ve Seen Mumbai Monorail’s Depot From The Train, Here It Is From The Sky

Whenever we take a ride on an intra-city rail line, we’re bound to see the line’s carshed or depot somewhere. If you take the Western Line, you might see the car shed at Mumbai Central or Kandivali, and on the Central Line at Kurla. If you take the Mumbai Metro, you’ll see its depot at Four Bungalows, and if you take the Monorail, you’ll see it at Wadala. There’s a high likelihood that saying Wadala Depot might confuse a lot of people. For it might be referring to BEST’s Wadala Depot that is located at Wadala (West) and is closer to Dadar, or BEST’s Anik and Pratiksha Nagar Depots that are located in Wadala East near the Salt Pans. Or, it could refer to the Monorail Depot.

So, without much further ado, here is the picture of the Monorail Depot:

This amazing drone shot has been taken by a drone-based media agency called BrainWing India. Don’t forget to follow them on Instagram: @brainwing_india.

Apart from the Monorail Depot, you can also see the Lodha New Cuffe Parade apartment complex behind it.

It is important to note that the Monorail depot only houses the first building with a wavy blue roof behind the station and the blue building behind that.

So what are all the other blue sheds and structures in the vicinity? Most of them are casting yards used by various contractors for the Mumbai Metro project.

The first one, at the top left-hand-side corner where the monorail track curves is a casting yard for tunnel rings for Mumbai Metro Line 3 operated by Turkey-based Doğuş and its Hyderabad-based partner Soma. The large blue shed next to the Monorail Depot is used by Tata Projects for the same. L&T and Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) use casting yards at the far end of this picture for casting tunnel rings.

Immediately next to the depot is the Nagarjuna Construction Company’s (NCC) casting yard for casting U-girders for the Metro’s Line 7 and next to it is the casting yard for J Kumar and on top of the that is the casting yard that Simplex used to use for Line 2.

For a better reference, see this tweet by Sahil Pednekar.

The monorail makes for a gorgeous sight from above, no?

That’s all from me for today. Don’t forget to follow BrainWing on Instagram. Don’t forget to share this post as well.

Featured Image: Mumbai Monorail Depot by Ashwin Kumar on Flickr.

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With Bags of Change Lying At Depots, BEST Too Joins QR Code Bandwagon

After BMTC and MTC, BEST too has opted to go in for a QR code-based UPI payment system, except this time it is to eliminate loose change lying with the undertaking.

As reported by Rajendra Aklekar for Mid-Day, the new system will be tested by BEST for buses belonging to two depots, Wadala and Colaba. Conductors will wear a badge with the QR Code on it. Commuters will have to tell conductors their destination, he will tell them the fare and then commuters can scan and make the payment using a UPI-compliant app.

BEST apparently has crores worth of loose change lying in their depots, prompting them to sometimes pay staff salaries with them.

BEST currently allows passengers to pay using their prepaid card (the ePurse) and using the Ridlr app. Both will remain independent of the new system and will remain operational.

The ePurse system was down for a significant time (seven months) in the 2018-2019 period when ticket machines failed after their provider Trimax IT filed for bankruptcy.

Let’s hope BEST’s move will see UPI adoption increase further.

Featured image: Death of the BEST ticket; Oh, how the mighty have fallen (Satish Krishnamurthy on Flickr)

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