If you, like me are stuck at home during the Covid-19 outbreak and are looking for a safe way to get to work, then KontorSpace has found a solution for you.
Simply head to this url: https://bit.ly/WorkTravelAlternativesThisWeek and enter the name of your city in the list. I’ve tried it out with the following cities and it works: Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane (no, Thane is not a part of Mumbai), Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi, Gurugram and Ahmedabad.
It works well. Go ahead, try it out.
And a special thanks to Kontor Space for the amazing service.
Last week, trains, buses, metro all were operating at half capacity.
BEST banned standees, while the metro asked people to sit in alternative seats. They also then reduced services by half.
🙏Mumbaikars are requested not to travel standing in the BEST buses from tomorrow onwards as a preventive measure against the prevailing #COVID19 situation in the city. #bestupdates#Mumbai
Because it leads to overcrowding because not all people could work from home.
Plus, many were trying to get home.
Abandon! The attempt to lock down due to #CoronavirusOutbreak is having an opposite effect. More crowding at stations as people are swarming trains to leave the City of Dreams -Mumbai, going back to native places. Railways running special one-way trains to facilitate them now… pic.twitter.com/DazO1PtkcW
Note: This was before a complete lockdown happened.
Featured Image: Closed section near the driver’s cab from the interior in trolleybus 8010 on Line 74 in Budapest, at “Ötvenhatosok tere” trolleybus station. The section of the trolleybus near the driver’s cab is closed to protect the driver from the threat of coronavirus infection. (Vauia Rex/ Estonian Wikipedia)
In the wake of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, our transcos have gotten aggressive in cleaning up their vehicles for better safety of passengers.
Indian Railways on its part has gone straight to announcing that it would no longer issue blankets to AC passengers and has asked them to bring their own.
Reliance Infrastructure-led Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL) issued an advisory followed by a thorough scrubbing of trains.
The Railways’ have also set up infrared temperature scanners.
Well, @Central_Railway Mumbai puts up infra-red temperature scanners at entry point of four railway stations in city from today– CSMT, Thane, Dadar and Kalyan. Will be voluntary, not compulsory. @mid_daypic.twitter.com/7LZuxiaKyh
While most people have carefully chosen to refer to the virus as Coronavirus or Novel Coronavirus and made claims that calling it Wuhan Virus is racist, it isn’t. Outbreaks have for long been named after geographical regions. Examples include Ebola, named after the Ebola river, Lyme disease, named after Lyme, Connecticut, the Spanish Flu, Hong Kong Flu and of course, Delhi Belly.
Another Addendum:
The Ministry of Health, Vietnam has released a very catchy song about washing hands. Do take a look here.
BEST is launching newer AC buses with each week. Here is a list of all the AC buses that they operate.
Regular Routes: Mini/Midi buses using Force Motors/ Tata Marcopolo CNG/BYD Olectra buses
A-4 Andheri Station (West) to Oshiwara Depot/Goregaon Depot A-3 Vijay Vallabh Chowk (Pydhonie) to Jijamata Udyan via Johar Chowk, Mazgaon, Byculla Station (East) A-32 Goregaon Bus Station (West) to Aai Tuljabhavai Chowk/Lokhandwala Complex Junction/Infiniti Mall A-33 Seven Bunglows Bus Station/Saat Bangla to Oshiwara/Goregaon Depot A-42 Sandhurst Road Station to Pandit Paluskar Chowk (Opera House) via S.V.P Road A-63 Byculla Station (West) to Breach Candy Hospital A-77 Byculla Station (West) to Breach Candy Hospital via Mahalaksmi Station, Haji Ali A-101 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Chowk/Museum A-102 Grant Road Station (East) to Vijay Vallabh Chowk (Pydhonie) A-104 Grant Road Station to J Mehta Marg A-105 Grant Road Station (West) to Kamala Nehru Park A-110 Wadala Station (West) to Sangam Nagar (Vidyalankar) A-111 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) to Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Chowk/Museum A-112 Churchgate Station/Ahilyabai Holkar Chowk to Gateway of India A-122 Churchgate Station/Ahilyabai Holkar Chowk to Ballard Pier A-153 Bycull Station (West) to Vasantrao Naik Chowk (Tardeo) via Saat Rasta, Mumbai Central A-155 Grant Road Station (West) Ring Route via Tardeo, Haji Ali, Jaslok Hospital Cumbala Hill Post Office, August Kranti Maidan, Nana Chowk A-157 Grant Road Station (West) to Cumbala Hill Post Office via August Kranti Maidan A-163 Parel Station (East) to Prabodhankar Thackeray Udyan Bus Station (Sewree) A-167 Prabhadevi Station (West) to Comrade P. K. Kurne Chowk/Worli Doordarshan A-170 Prabhadevi Station (West) to Lower Parel Railway Station (West) A-174 Wadala Station (East) to Bharani Naka A-180 Oshiwara Depot/Goegaon Depot to Jogeshwari Bus Station A-203 Andheri Station (West) to Juhu Bus Station A-210 Versova Yari Road Bus Station to Monginis A-211 Bandra Station (West) to Chuim Village A-214 Bandra Station (West) to Mount Mary Steps A-217 Dadar Station (East) Ring Route via KEM Hospital A-217 Dadar Station (East) to KEM Hospital A-219 Bandra Station (West) to Bandra Reclamation Bus Station A-220 Bandra Station (West) to Sherly Village A-221 Andehri Station (West) to Natasha Towers A-234 Jogeshwari Bus Station to Shree Swami Samarth Nagar A-235 Andheri Station (West) to Monginis A-248 Andheri Station (West) to Ramesh Nagar A-249 Andheri Station (West) to Seven Bunglows Bus Station A-251 Seven Bunglows Bus Station to Versova Yari Road Bus Station A-252 Andheri Station (West) to Sardar Vallabhai Patel Nagar (Mhada Layout) A-254 Andheri Station (West) to Veera Desai Road (Extension) A-257 Andheri Station (West) Ring Route via Juhu Vile Parle Bus Station (JVPD Bus Station) A-260 Oshiwara Depot to Indian Oil Nagar (D. N. Nagar Metro Station) A-266 Andheri Station (West) to Swami Samarth Nagar Circle A-268 Andheri Station (West) to Shree Swami Samarth Nagar A-273 Malad Station (West) to Malvani Block No 5 A-302 Rani Lakshmi Chowk (Sion) to Maharana Pratap Chowk/Mulund Check Naka A-312 Rani Lakhsmi Chowk (Sion) to Pratiksha Nagar Depot A-337 Agarkar Chowk to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport Terminal 2 A-338 Agarkar Chowk to Sahar Cargo Complex A-341 Rani Laksmi Chowk (Sion) to Antop Hill Bus Station A-352 Rani Lakshmi Chowk (Sion) to Trombay A-361 Chembur Colony to Mahul Village via Vashi Naka A-362 Deonar Depot to Kurla Station (East) A-363 Chembur Colony to SRA Colony (Mahul) A-367 Chembur Colony to Gadkari Quary A-369 Chembur Colony to MMRDA Colony/Vashi Naka A-372 Anushakti Nagar to Shivaji Nagar Junction A-441 Agarkar Chowk to Mhada Colony (Majas) A-447 Goregaon Station (East) to Santosh Nagar (Extension) A-451 Goregaon Station (East) to Adarsh Nagar (Aarey) A-452 Goregaon Station (East) to Mayur Nagar A-481 Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Udyan, Chembur to MMRDA Colony, Vashi Naka A-624 Malad Station (East) Poddar Park to Anand Nagar/Appa Pada A-646 Goregaon Station (East) to Nagari Niwara 1&2 via IT Park
BKC Routes: MMRConnect Buses using Tata Starbus Hybrid buses
BKC-10 BKC Telephone Exchange to Borivali Railway Station (East)
BKC-11 Bandra Railway Termninus to Hiranandani Estate (Thane West)
BKC-12 Bandra Railway Terminus To Jalvayu Vihar (Kharghar)
BKC-13 Bandra Railway Terminus to Maharana Pratap Chowk/Mulund Check Naka Bus Station
BKC-16 Agarkar Chowk to SEEPZ Village
BKC-21 Bandra (East) Bus Station to Bharat Diamond Bourse
BKC-22 MMRDA Pay and Park (BKC) to Kurla Station (West)
BKC-23 Bandra (East) Bus Station to C.A Institute (BKC)
NMMT AC Buses (only those entering Mumbai city limits)
AC-103 Panvel Railway Station (West) to Hindamata Cinema (Dadar) AC-105 Bandra Railway Station (West) to CBD Belapur Bus Station AC-107 World Trade Centre to CBD Belapur Bus Station (via Eastern Freeway) AC-108 World Trade Centre to Nerul Sector 46/48 AC-110 World Trade Centre to Jalvayu Vihar (Kharghar) AC-111 World Trade Centre to CBD Belapur Bus Station (via Parel, Dadar) AC-115 World Trade Centre to Kharkopar Railway Station AC-121 World Trade Centre to Gansoli/Gharona AC-123 Borivali Railway Station (East) to Owe Gaon/CISF AC-124 Agarkar Chowk to Karave Nagar, Nerul AC-125 Borivali Railway Station (East) to Asud Depot AC-126 Borivali Railway Station (East) to Panvel Railway Station (West) AC-127 Ghatkopar Station (East) to Vashi Railway Station AC-131 Borivali Railway Station (East) to Ghansoli Depot
TMT AC Buses (only those entering Mumbai city limits)
AC-65 Borivali Railway Station (East) to Thane Station (East)/Kopri AC-125 Agarkar Chowk to Kasarvadavali Naka AC-126 Reserve Bank of India (BKC) to Hiranandani Estate (Patlipada) AC-144 Cadbury Junction to Mantralaya
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Four months after BEST began A-251 at Andheri Station (West), it finally began services in Andheri (East). BEST announced three routes A-337, A-338 and A-441 from Agarkar Chowk on 9 March.
📢नवीन वातानुकुलीत मिनी बस मार्ग🚍 ए-३३७ आगरकर चौक(अंधेरी पूर्व) ते छत्रपती शिवाजी महाराज आंतरराष्ट्रीय विमानतळ बस सेवा सुरू पहिली बस :६.०० शेवटची:२३.०० NEW AC BUS ROUTE A-337-Agarkar Chk to T-2 @CSMIA_official First: 6.00hrs :Last:23.00hrs Frequency:10mts#bestupdates#Andheri
A-337 connects Agarkar Chowk to Terminal 2 (Sahar Terminal) of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA). It mirrors the regular 337 that goes along the same route. This marks a return of BEST’s AC buses to the international terminal. The last bus was A-1 Express using the Purple Faeries than ran from CBD Belapur Bus Station in Navi Mumbai to the airport nearly a decade ago.
📢नवीन वातानुकुलीत मिनी बस मार्ग🚍 ए-३३८:आगरकर चौक(अंधेरी पू) ते सहार कार्गो संकुल बस सेवा सुरू प्रस्थानंतर:१० मी. पहिली बस:६.००, शेवटची:२३.०० NEW AC ROUTE A-338 :-Agarkar chowk to Sahar Cargo Complex First bus: 6.00 hrs :Last bus:23.00 hrs#bestupdates#Andheri@CSMIA_Official
The second AC bus being run is A-338. This mirrors the regular 338 between Agarkar Chowk and Sahar Cargo Complex.
📢नवीन वातानुकुलीत मिनी बसमार्ग🚍 ए-४४१: आगरकर चौक(अंधेरी पूर्व) ते म्हाडा वसाहत(मजास) बस सेवा सुरू पहिली बस :६.०० शेवटची बस:२२.३० NEW AC BUS ROUTE A-441 :-Agarkar chowk to MHADA colony(Majas) First bus: 6.00 hrs :Last bus:22.30 hrs#bestupdates#Andheri
The third bus that BEST launched is A-441. This runs from Agarkar Chowk to Mhada Colony (Majas). It partly mirrors 441 which runs from Agarkar Chowk till Majas Depot, five stops more. The reason it doesn’t run up to Majas Depot is because that fall under the next fare zone and as I had explained in an earlier post, BEST is currently only looking at single-fare stage operations right now.
Among these three, A-441 will be a significant one since it connects towards Majas and traverses Nagardas Road. Perhaps BEST can launch AC services from Jogeshwari Station (East) or Satbhakti Mandir since that falls under the ₹6 fare zone.
Here are some pictures from Twitter user Akshay Marathe (note; Akshay Marathe, the transport enthusiast is not to be confused with another Akshay Marathe who is an Aam Aadmi Party member) and Shubham Padave.
While this is a good start, both Akshay and I agree that these mini-buses are not the best for Andheri East, larger buses are needed. BEST is as of now still operating BKC-16 as an air-conditioned version of 415 from Agarkar Chowk to SEEPZ Village using the Tata Starbus Hybrid Fleet. It operates with conductors.
With this launch, there are now four AC bus routes from Agarkar Chowk operating in three directions from the region. BKC-16 operates along Andheri-Ghatkopar Link Road/Andheri Kurla Road/Sir Mathurdas Vasanji Road till Chakala after which it turns towards Mahakali Caves Road/MIDC/SEEPZ. A-337 and A-338 operate along Sahar Road. A-441 goes towards Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road.
The postvans used in Andheri (East) are leased from Hansa City Bus (HCB) belonging to the Marol Depot. HCB is also the lessor for buses operating in Andheri (West), Jogeshwari (West) and Goregaon (East) with buses belonging to the Oshiwara and Dindoshi Depots. I’ve earlier noticed several buses in Andheri (West) operate using buses from the Marol Depot. Strangely, BEST’s A-32 that operates from Goregaon Bus Station (West) to Infinity Mall (Lokhandwala) also uses buses from the Marol Depot.
I also took a mini at Bandra (West) last week. Those are a bit confusing because the routes A-211, A-214, A-219 and A-220 are confusing. BEST has also stopped using the Hybrid fleet on AS-220. The buses are operated by MP Enterprises and Associates (MPG) out of the Bandra Depot.
Just to remind you, this is what the Tata Hybrid fleet looks like:
BEST’s Tata Starbus Diesel-Electic Hybrid Bus of the Dharavi Depot on Route A-72 at Salvation Church (Karthik nadar/Twitter)
This post is dedicated to Nirav Kanodra with whom I’ve had numerous discussions on best solving transit issues. You can follow Nirav on Twitter @niravstoons.
Featured image: Flex-board announcing A-441 (Shubham Padave/Twitter)
BEST, which had announced conductorless buses as far back as 2015, has been rather successful at operating conductorless buses with their new AC minibus fleet.
However, one thing seems to have gone unnoticed is that BEST has been trying out its conductor-less buses with it’s non-AC fleet as well. Among the routes known are 477 from Borivali Railway Compound (East) to Rushi Van, 248 from Andheri Station (West) to Ramesh Nagar and 298 from Borivali Railway Station (East) to Raval Pada. The buses used in these are BEST’s CNG-powered Midi-bus fleet with their rear door closed.
A conductorless bus on route 477. Image: Yash Mhadgut/Twitter.
Now, according to Yash, who shared this image on Twitter, this is used on routes where the number of stops are very few. In his tweet, he says that 2/3 of the buses on 298 are conductorless, which is a bad move. He says that major passenger flow is in peak direction (towards station in the mornings and from station in the evenings) and there are people boarding and disembarking at all stops. Skipping stops isn’t ideal as well, he argues, stating that there are a sum total of seven buses on the route.
I’m inclined to agree here. What are your thoughts?
Are conductor-less buses feasible on every route?
Featured image: A bus conductor waiting for an AC conductor-less bus at Mahalakshmi Station
In 1993, an episode of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons spoke of how the town of Springfield, flush with money decided to go in for a Monorail only for it to end in disaster due to shoddy work and cutting corners.
A quarter century later, Mumbai seems to be on the same
path. The 19.5 km long Monorail carries less than 50,000 daily passengers after
burning ₹3,000 crore, a very sad number, especially in comparison to the
existing line of the Mumbai Metro that ferries nearly 500,000 passengers daily
across 10.8km.
While there are several reasons behind the low patronage,
there is a common link between all of them – the rolling stock supplied by Scomi.
To give a quick recap; operations on the Monorail began in
early 2014 across a 9km stretch with four trains of four coaches each. A fire
in November 2017 caused the entire system to remain shut till September 2018
following which it reopened. Subsequently, the rest of the line opened in early
2019, exactly five years after the line first opened. However, the remaining of
ten trains never arrived due to financial troubles that the Malaysian
manufacturer is facing. Consequently, MMRDA cancelled the tender in late 2018
and began the process of retendering. As a result, the frequency of services on
the corridor is abysmal. Trains from Chembur to Wadala depart with a gap of 45
minutes.
The Monorail was initially operated by a joint venture
between Scomi and L&T – who built the infrastructure – which was cancelled
eventually. The MMRDA now plans to operate the line under the newly formed
Mumbai Metro Operations Corporation (MMOCL) that will operate the upcoming
elevated metro system. It had opened tenders for operations as well, receiving
only one bid from Reliance Infra that currently operates the Metro. As a result
of this, Mumbai today faces the prospect of staring at a major white elephant
in the form of the Monorail.
Unlike Metro rail, Monorails are relatively more proprietary
in nature, and not too standardised. Thus, it is difficult to get trains
manufactured by other manufacturers to work on an existing system. For
instance, Bombardier’s monorail trainsets feature a different straddle width
that makes it completely inoperable in Mumbai. Hitachi meanwhile has three
models, one of which has the same dimensions as the Scomi SUTRA currently
operational. MMRDA’s tender received only two bids – China’s CRRC Changchun
Vehicles that supplied rolling stock to the Chongqing Monorail and again,
China’s BYD whose BYD Skyrail that is yet to be operational anywhere. BYD
currently is the world’s largest electric bus manufacturer, with a significant
presence in India through a joint venture with Hyderabad-based Olcetra (formerly
Goldstone).
What might be a stumbling block right now is the Union Urban
Development Ministry’s Make In India norms that mandate that 75 per cent of
coaches for metro rail be sourced domestically. While it is unclear if these
norms will extend to monorail technology, it would be better for the MMRDA to
find a workaround. While CRRC was looking to set up a manufacturing unit in
Maharashtra to supply trains to Nagpur, BYD already has a local partner in
Olectra, through which the trains could be manufactured. Another route that
could be looked at is through the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation
(Mahametro) that recently gave an order for metro trains to Titagarh Firema, an
Italian subsidiary of Titagarh Wagons. While Titagarh Firema would manufacture
25 per cent of the trains at the Firema plant in Italy, the rest would be made
in Nagpur, at Mahametro’s facility before making their way to Pune. MMRDA could
tie up with Mahametro and have either of the two firms build it domestically.
As far as operations as concerned, the MMRDA should look to MMOCL – which will eventually take over operations – for support. MMOCL has already dispatched a team of engineers to Singapore to have them trained in metro operations. A second plan to augment this with training in Hong Kong was cancelled due to the ongoing protests. Along with this, the corporation has also called for tenders for private operators to operate the upcoming systems, much like how Reliance Infra has subcontracted operations of the Metro. MMOCL could perhaps send a team of engineers to China or Japan to train them, or look at collaborative partnerships to get the system back on track.
Simultaneously, BEST needs to start with Feeder services to Monorail Stations. Monorail Stations, as with Metro Stations need to be treated on par with Railway Stations. While a significant crowd will prefer the rail due to its speed, some of it will prefer the bus due to lower costs. BEST needs to stand between the two.
Whatever the state government chooses to do, it needs to act fast. The Monorail in its current avatar has been avoided – by operators and commuters alike – and that is not good. It needs to be put back on track – literally and figuratively – and made into a viable rapid transit system, for it has the potential. The image that the Monorail currently has needs to be overhauled entirely and once this has been done, it could potentially be extended, and potential new lines could be built, in Mumbai or otherwise.
In all my recent posts, I’ve been referring to BEST’s new fleet of mini-buses as Postvans. The reason is simple. They look like India Post’s red post vans. In fact, at Andheri West, the Andheri Railway Station Post Office is located on SV Road, next to the junction with JP Road. It is not uncommon to see postal vans parked outside McDonalds where the bus stop is located. I once stood next a post van without realising that it was a post van and not an A-257.
Yesterday, I spotted two vehicles back to back and took a quick video of it. Now you’ll see what I mean.
Back in 2015, a friend of mine had nicknamed the old Cerita fleet ‘Purple Duds’. For some reason, I nicknamed them ‘Purple Faeries’. In case you’re wondering, those buses weren’t faeries at all. Note; faerie is an old, archaic spelling of fairy. They were clunky, noisy, monstrosities. But the name stuck.
A quick Google search for Purple Faeries Mumbai will throw up image results for the BEST Cerita fleet and other images from this blog. Make sure you select “Search for Purple Faeries” since Google will try searching for “Purple Fairies“.
On 16 November 2019, BEST launched the first of what would be a super successful venture that was replicated across the city. It launched the first AC minibus (them postvans, aka chhotu in some circles) without a conductor, on Route A-251 from Andheri Station (West) to Seven Bungalows Bus Station.
📢NEW AC BUS SERVICE 📢 Commuters can now have an experience of BEST AC bus service from Andheri West from today. Routes A-251 has commenced operation between Andheri Station (W) and Seven Bungalows . #bestupdatespic.twitter.com/jYcgLvF2LH
The route was a big hit, prompting BEST to launch a slew of similar routes in Andheri (West) before gradually expanding to Jogeshwari (West), Goregaon (East), Wadala (West), Dadar (East), Prabhadevi (West), Churchgate, Byculla (West), Mahalaksmi, Grant Road (West) and ultimately Goregaon (West). It also antagonised auto-rickshaws at Andheri because, well, it was cheap.
Shortly after that BEST launched A-249. It was identical to A-251 in its route, and had the same single stop at Four Bungalows. I even asked BEST what the difference was on Twitter, but got no response.
Hi @myBESTBus, what is the difference between A-249 and A-251? Both seem to go from Andheri (West) to Seven Bungalows with a stop at Four Bungalows.
Also, what is the difference between A-235 and A-242, both seem to go from Andheri (West) to Monginis. @Lokhandwala_Bom
Then, on 6 December 2019, BEST announced that A-249 will have an additional stop at Dhake Colony while A-251 will only run between Seven Bungalows Bus Station [Saat Bangla] and Versova-Yari Road Bus Station [Vesave-Yari Marg].
📢 दि. ६.१.२० पासून 🚍 १) ए सी बस मार्गात बदल – ए-२५१ सात बंगला ते वेसावा या दरम्यान चालेल. २) नवीन बस मार्ग ए-२५७ अंधेरी पश्चिम ते जेवीपीडी दरम्यान जेपी रोड, कॉस्मोपॉलिटन मार्गे चालणार आहे. ३) धाके वसाहत येथे ए सी बस मार्ग ए-२४९ साठी अतिरिक्त थांबा देण्यात येतं आहे #bestupdates
This startled many. My transit group wondered why BEST couldn’t run A-251 directly from Versova-Yari Road to Andheri. I had my suspicions but they were finally confirmed today.
The distance between the two, by the direct route: Versova-Yari Road Bus Station -> Versova Village -> Seven Bungalows -> Four Bungalows -> Andheri Sports Complex -> Amboli Village -> Andheri Subway -> Andheri Station is 6.3km while in the reverse direction it is 5.8km.
Note: Despite what Google Maps says, JP Road from Navarang Cinema to SV Road has been a one-way towards the West for over two decades now. Even in 1998, I remember 251 (then a Double Decker) taking a left into Amboli.
This distance puts the route into the next stage bracket; i.e: ₹13.
Yesterday (11 February 2020), BEST announced a new route A-32 from Goregaon Station (West) to Aai Tuljabhavani Chowk/Lokhandwala Complex Junction (Infiniti Mall signal). I responded to them asking why not extend it to Monginis since that is such a big hub with four AC routes stopping there: A-210, A-235, A-260 and A-268. They responded as follows:
Presently One man operation is restricted upto 5 kms i.e fare value of Rs 5 only.
BEST needs to add an additional AC route in this region. Say, A-250. Neither 250 nor A-250 exist at this point. That gives us four AC buses at Seven Bungalows: A-249, A-251, A-210 and this new route. A-249 can continue on the existing route that it has with two stops between Andheri and Seven Bungalows. The new route can service what A-251 currently does, by plying between Seven Bungalows and Versova Yari Road.
A-251 meanwhile should mirror the regular 251 and ply non-stop between Versova-Yari Road and Andheri Station with a single fare of ₹13. That’s it. The auto-fare on this route is in the range of ₹70-80 minimum, plus time taken due to traffic. It will be a huge hit.
The second solution, is a slightly more interesting one.
BEST had gotten 6 out of 50 buses as part of a deal with a company called Asian Concierge. While nobody knows why the remaining 44 never made it to BEST nor what happened to Asian Concierge (Tofler reports its last annual general meeting or AGM in September 2018 and last balance sheet as having been prepared in March 2018), those six buses are still parked at the Oshiwara Depot, according to Google Earth. You might want to click on the tweet to see the full image. The buses are the long red-topped ones with a white box, located towards the bottom left of the depot, north of the Oshiwara river.
Asian Concierge's six Volvo Buses leased to BEST are still parked at the Oshiwara Depot. pic.twitter.com/IAwzX5bbk6
This map is from 15 October 2019. Google Earth’s timeline view shows that between 2017 and 2019, these six buses were parked at various parts of the depot.
While we are uncertain as to why BEST is not using these buses, it can perhaps ply them as a regular AC bus AS-251 with a conductor from Andheri Station to Versova-Yari Road. Their only issue: They’re all single-door buses. The Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizen’s Association even asked BEST why they were not in use but we got no reply.
In the last few blog posts, I covered the suburbs and downtown Mumbai, now I’ll attempt to cover midtown.
BEST has launched A-167 from Prabhadevi Station (West) to Comrade P. K. Kurne Chowk (Doordarshan) via Deepak Cinema, A-170 from Prabhadevi Railway Station (West) to Lower Parel via Senapati Bapat Marg (Tulsi Pipe Road), A-218 from Dadar Station (East) to KEM Hospital via Phalke Road, Hindamata Cinema and Dr. B.A Road.
It also launched A-155 (a ring route) from Grant Road Station via Jaslok Hospital and Nana Chowk. This is downtown and not mid-town route and operates using the Tata Marcopolo midi-buses (owned by SMT ATPL and attached to the Mumbai Central depot) mentioned in the previous post.
Coming back to Dadar and Prabhadevi (formerly Elphinstone Road). All the routes are operated by buses owned by MP Enterprises and Associates (identified by MPG) of the Wadala depot. However the Motor Vehicles Act declaration on the side shows the bus registered to the Bandra Depot.
The bus I took was A-167. I boarded the bus from Prabhadevi Station. While waiting for the bus I noticed that a man was sitting there with a large logbook logging details including passenger count, fuel usage and trip distance from the driver. The trip to Doordarshan was pretty uneventful. The bus only stops at the last two stops before terminating. It did not stop at Bombay Dyeing. On the return journey, it picked up passengers from the same two stops but not at Bombay Dyeing. At P. K. Kurne Chowk, there was a man sitting with a logbook just like at Prabhadevi Station. I have not noticed this at Andheri, Goregaon or down south. Perhaps he was employed by the private agency that owns the buses.
The return journey was where I had an issue. There are two bus shelters at P.K Kurne Chowk. The driver opened the doors at the first stop where the route was not marked and a few of us boarded there. At the second stop, the conductor sold tickets and then let passengers board. However, he did not board the bus to check if all passengers had a ticket, which happens at Andheri.
We bought our tickets after disembarking at Prabhadevi Station. At all the stops, the conductor did not have a ticket machine but instead had a single bundle of ₹6 tickets that he punched.
A ₹6 punched paper ticket issued by BEST (Srikanth Ramakrishnan)
There was a ticket examiner at Prabhadevi but he did not check for tickets. This could be problematic in future. The driver should only let passengers board from the designated bus stop and conductors should ensure that all passengers have a ticket before the bus leaves.
Overall, this seems to be a good move. Prabhadevi Station, while served by 167, otherwise lacks decent bus connectivity, forcing passengers to depend on share taxis that are uncomfortable and in bad shape. They charge around ₹20 till Bombay Dyeing at least. This bus will be a godsend to a lot of people in the area, especially folks working for Republic TV. Further with the expansion of the Parel-Prabhadevi station complex and the provisioning of the Parel terminus on the Central Line, the station has become a rather important one. Along with Lower Parel, the area has seen major redevelopment of mill lands on both sides, along Senapati Bapat Marg/Tulsi Pipe Road in the West and Dr. BR Ambedkar Road in the East. This will certainly increase footfalls in the region and improved public transport is the need of the hour. Perhaps its time MMRDA got a little aggressive on getting the Monorail back in action.
To close this post, Tata Motors has won a bid to supply 300 AC electric buses to BEST.
Tata Motors bags tender for 300 AC electric buses from #Mumbai’s BEST. These buses will be subsidised under Govt of India’s FAME II scheme. Of which, 140 buses will be full size 12 meter buses and rest will 9 meter Midi buses.#InfraStorypic.twitter.com/6RqifsWVdT
