Tag: Post Vans

This Is How BEST Is Helping Fight The Pandemic

With the Wuhan Virus pandemic getting worse thanks to “Special Operations” and “Single Source” events (politically correct terms for the Tableeghi Jamaat), governments are on a spree to fix the issue. While Maharashtra under the incumbent Maha Vinash Aghadi has completely messed up, there are a few silver linings, mainly thanks to the fact that Praveen Pardeshi is the Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai.

Here’s what BEST is doing to help fight the pandemic.

BEST has offered to ferry unescorted patients as a goodwill gesture. As reported by Rajendra Aklekar in Mid-Day, two buses from the Wadala depot are being used to ferry patients from the Podar Hospital in Worli to the MCGM’s Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar.

Drivers aren’t too happy with the move, they claim the buses have not been disinfected. They have been given personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, but apparently don’t know how to use them. Ideally, the Health Ministry led by Rajesh Tope should step in and do the needful by training drivers. If cops in Yogi Adityanath’s Uttar Pradesh can be trained, why not Mumbai’s bus drivers?

Here is a pic of the drivers wearing their PPE gear.

BEST has also been using it’s AC minibuses to transport food packets. Seats have been removed and the air-conditioning is used to keep the food cool.

Well, so far so good eh?

A day later: thanks to HT Journalist Tanushree Venkatraman for reporting this.

BEST’s minibuses have been used to deliver sanitary napkins to various organisations across the city.

The MMRDA meanwhile has been using UPL Limited’s Falcon to spray Sodium Hypochlorite (NaOCl) in the Bandra Kurla Complex, when they should logically be disinfecting Andheri (West) (K-West ward) and Worli (G ward) where maximum cases have propped up. Guess this is what happens when the Chief Minister lives in Bandra East.

Well, that’s all from me for now.

Featured image; BEST’s postvans parked near the BSES/ Bhramakumari’s Hospital on SV Road/Palliram Path next to the K-West Ward office and Andheri pedestrian Subway.

Looking for some humour: Do read this:

Novel Uses Of BEST’s Purple Faeries

Or, you can try and take the BEST Quarantine Bingo Challenge!

Stuck At Home? Try The BEST Quarantine Challenge

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Blast From The Past: Pictures Of Purple Faeries Operating On AS-700

If you, like me are bored, then welcome to this post.

As many of you may have known, I had quite a fascination for BEST’s Cerita fleet, which some of you know as the Kinglong fleet. These Purple Faeries, however bad they were just fascinated me, because well, I found them cool.

I did, back in 2015-16 try my best (pun intended) to upload as many pictures of them possible on to the Wikimedia Commons. You can check it out by clicking here.

Now, I shall share with you a lot of images of these buses, on one specific route: AS-700 between Borivali Railway Station (East) and Thane Railway Station (West)/Kopri. Be prepared for the onslaught.

The first of these images is the featured image that you saw at the top of this post. That is a picture of an AS-700 belonging to the Mulund Depot parked at Borivali Station (East).

Mumbai BEST bus Kinglong

This is an AS-700 belonging to the Magathane Depot operating between Magathane Depot and Thane Station (East). This picture was clicked north of the National Park flyover by Kunal Jadhav.

Mumbai BEST Bus

This is AS-700, once again belonging to the Magathane Depot en route Thane Railway Station (East), clicked bu Kunal Jadhav.

Mumbai BEST AC Kinglong Bus

Another AS-700 of the Magathane Depot, once again headed to Thane from Magathane Depot. A fabulous click by Kunal Jadhav, this was clicked on Ghodbunder Road (State Highway 42) just after taking a turn at Fountain Hotel. You can see the reflection of IRB’s Thane Ghodbunder Toll Road Private Limited (TGTRPL)’s Toll Plaza in the windscreen of the bus.

Mumbai BEST AC Kinglong Bus

Clicked once again by Kunal Jadhav, this AS-700 is headed to Borivali Station (East) from Thane (Kopri) and belongs to the Mulund Depot. This picture was clicked on Ghodbunder Road and judging by the slope and the curve behind the bus, I’d say it was taken at Kaju Pada/Chena Gaon.

Mumbai BEST Kinglong AC bus

A lone AS-700 waits at Borivali Station (East). Clicked by Kunal Jadhav, no other details are visible in the picture.

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This is yet another AS-700 parked at Borivali Station (East) bound for Thane. The bus belongs to the Mulund Depot, its LED display wasn’t functional and the route was written on the front left side of the windshield in chalk, above the CNG sticker. Picture clicked by Akshay BEST.

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Here is another bus image clicked by Akshay BEST. I’m assuming this bus is turning into the Magathane Depot and thus, belongs to the same.

Note: Thanks to Akshay for clarifying that this bus was actually taking a turn from the Depot and headed to Borivali Station.

IMG_5197-1

Another click by Akshay BEST, I’m not sure if this bus is running on AS-700 or AS-524, both of which started from Borivali Station (East) and had buses operating out of the Magathane Depot.

Thanks to Akshay for clarifying that this bus was an AS-700 only.

Borivali Riders

Clicked by Binai Sankar, this shows a BEST Cerita and a TMT Volvo parked together at Thane Station. The Cerita belongs to the Mulund Depot.

Repainted Kinglong

Here is an AS-700 at Borivali, belonging to the Mulund Depot. It had just received a fresh coat of paint.

Queue for CNG

Here is a bunch of them parked at Mahathane Depot to get refuelled.

Ugly duckling

This bus, affectionately titled Ugly Duckling by Akshay is an AS-700 parked at Borivali. It was covered with Vinyl ads (see the image below) earlier and has been peeled off.

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And last but not least. AS-700 with full body vinyl ads belonging to the Mulund Depot. The bus number is 1234.

Note, all images credited to Akshay BEST and Akshay Buses belong to Akshay Marathe (not to be confused with the Aam Aadmi Party’s Akshay Marathe).

So far, that’s about the BEST I could get. Stay tuned to more inanities.

In case you’re wondering by the bus operates from different starting points, BEST did that quite often. Here is a snapshot.

You can view BEST’s AC timetable from 2013 by clicking here.

A huge thanks to the photographers for clicking these images and uploading them to Flickr. Please do open the images and follow them.

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A List Of All The AC Buses Currently Operating In Mumbai

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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Featured Image: Tri-Services at Chakala (Srikanth Ramakrishnan/Twitter)

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Can You Spot The Difference?

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.

Barring the windows, they’re pretty identical and its easy to confuse them. Right?

Naturally, this being Twitter, it spawned off a set of hilarious conversations.

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“.

That’s all from me this time.

Is it a bus? Or is it a postvan?

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A Quick Review Of BEST’s Midi-Buses

This last month, I took two trips on two of BEST’s Midi-buses. A Midi-bus, is a slightly larger bus than a mini-bus, a medium-sized bus to be precise. The non-AC equivalent of this is what currently plies on routes such as 627 (from Andheri Bus Station (West) to Mora Village (Juhu)). Below is an example of what it looks like.

A BEST Midi-bus running on 377 from Lallubhai Compound to Kurla Station (East), belonging to the Anik Depot. Photo: Karthik Nadar, Wikimedia Commons.
A BEST Midi-bus running on 377 from Lallubhai Compound to Kurla Station (East), belonging to the Anik Depot. Photo: Karthik Nadar, Wikimedia Commons.

Now, at this juncture, I’d like to state that BEST currently operates four different types of air-conditioned buses, all of which are of different power types. It operates Diesel-powered minibuses manufactured by Force Motors, CNG-powered midibuses manufactured by Tata Marcopolo, electric midibuses manufactured by Olectra (formerly Goldstone; in partnership with BYD) and Diesel-Electric hybrid full length buses manufactured by Tata Motors under the Starbus brand.

I took the Olectra on Route A-302 that operates from Maharana Pratap Chowk (R Mall/Mulund Check Naka Bus Station) to Rani Lakshmi Chowk (Sion Circle). The bus belongs to the Dharavi/Kala Killa depot and is owned by Olectra (identified by OL next to the depot code) on a wet lease. I boarded the bus at Sarvodaya Hospital in Ghatkopar to Sion. I took the Tata Marcopolo on A-77 from Byculla Station (West) to Breach Candy Hospital. The bus belongs to the Mumbai Central depot and belongs to SMT ATPL Associates (identified by SAA next to the depot code), again on a wet lease. I boarded this bus from Mahalakshmi Station (West) to Breach Candy.

BEST's BYD Olectra K7 bus. (Sahil pednekar/Twitter)
BEST’s BYD Olectra K7 bus. (Sahil pednekar/Twitter)

On the outside, both buses are similar in length and have two doors. The Olectra has a Centre door (that is used) while the Tata has a Rear door (rarely used). On the inside however, the Olectra has standard 2×2 seating, while the Tata has 2×1 seating similar to the minibuses. It has 2 seats per row behind the driver and one on the left. Both buses do have a bell pull, on the left side like the regular buses. The Force minibuses have their bellpull on the right side however.

BEST's Tata Marcopolo CNG buses (Srikanth Ramakrishnan)
BEST’s Tata Marcopolo CNG buses (Srikanth Ramakrishnan)

Except on the rows with emergency exits (penultimate seats), both buses have USB charging points inside them. While Olectra has them at the waist level, Tata has them below the seat, much like the charging points in long distance buses.

At this point, I’d like to say, please note: While charging your phones in public spaces, keep phones on flight mode. There are numerous reports of Juice Jacking going around. Juice Jacking reports to using the USB port of your device at an unsecured, public charging point to steal data. Of course, it is reassuring that Mikko Hyppönen of F-Secure said that Juice Jacking is theoretically possible but is never seen practically.

Interior of the Olectra (Srikanth Ramakrishnan)
Interior of the Olectra (Srikanth Ramakrishnan)

The air-conditioning on the Tata is far ahead of the Olectra. At some point between Ghatkopar and Sion, it became stuffy inside the Olectra and that is not a good sign at all.

The interior of the Tata Marcopolo CNG (Srikanth Ramakrishnan)
The interior of the Tata Marcopolo CNG (Srikanth Ramakrishnan)

BEST has also launched the Olectra on A-352D. Non-AC versions of the Olectra also operate on 302 that shares the same route as A-302. The Tata CNG also operates on A-155 from Grant Road Station (West) as a Ring Route via Tardeo, Haji Ali, Jaslok Hospital, Cumbala Hill Post Office, August Kranti Maidan and Nana Chowk.

BEST also launched A-218 from Dadar Station (East) to KEM Hospital via Phalke Road, Hindmata Cinema on Dr B. R. Ambedkar Road. Presumably this belongs to the Wadala Depot. I also took a ride on A-112 from Ahilyabai Holkar Chowk/Churchgate Railway Station to the Gateway of India. The minibus is attached to the Colaba Depot and is owned by PNM Transport and Mobility Limited, identified as PNM on the body of the bus.

That’s all from me for this time. Till next time, keep taking the bus..

Featured image: BEST’s Tata Marcopolo CNG midibus (Left) and BYD Olectra Electric Midibus (Right) [Srikanth Ramakrishnan]

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BEST Starts With AC Feeder Buses To Metro Stations

Back in 2014, BEST had launched a series of buses in and around Andheri (East) called Metro Pheri to serve as feeder routes to various stations along Line 1 of the Mumbai Metro. Unfortunately, they pretty much ran empty.

Now, in what seems like a resurgent comeback for BEST, they have started a new route that would act as a feeder for the Metro, this time in the West.

BEST announced the launch of A-260 connecting Oshiwara Depot/Goregaon Depot with Indian Oil Nagar (D N Nagar Metro Station).

As mentioned above, the bus stops at Green Park, Millat Nagar, Lokhandwala Junction (Aai Tuljabhavai Chowk) and Lakshmi Industrial Estate. The odd thing is that the bus doesn’t stop at Monginis Cake Company/Citimall where A-235 (and formerly A-242) used to terminate and A-210 has a stop. The junction is also a major starting point for share autos heading for both Andheri Station and the DN Nagar Metro Station.

Along with this, the realignment of A-251 from Versova Yari Road Bus Station to Seven Bungalows Bus Station is also an additional step in providing feeder connectivity to the metro. However, BEST should have extended it to operate from Versova Yari Road to Andheri Station. One must remember at the end of the day that the earlier bus users briefly shifted to the metro when bus fares reached an all time high and have come back to buses. Those who earlier used share-autos have shifted to the Metro while the upper class regular auto and taxi users have not migrated. At least not yet.

On Twitter, I had earlier suggested a route from Veera Desai Road (Extension) to JVPD Bus Station which would act as feeders to both the Azad Nagar and DN Nagar Metro Stations.

A majority of BEST’s services are de facto feeder routes connecting to various railway stations. With the advent of the Metro, this needs to be expanded here as well. The core advantage the Metro has over the Suburban Rail is that because it is not at-grade (elevated or underground), the can start and end at two places that are not necessarily the metro station but intersect them.

BEST needs to do a lot more for the East. The Metro Pheri can perhaps be brought back to connect SEEPZ and MIDC with Chakala, JB Nagar, and Marol (Western Express Highway, Chakala – JB Nagar, Airport Road and Marol naka metro stations). Passengers headed to MIDC and SEEPZ from the Metro are otherwise left at the mercy of auto-rickshaws who for some reason refuse trips. While private players like Shuttl have begun services, mainly to service 91Springboard that has three hubs in the region, BEST needs to step in as well.

Along with this, BEST desperately needs a lot more of these non-stop AC minibuses in the East, primarily from Pinky Cinema (Agarkar Chowk) to Majas Depot. BEST could also experiment with a few of them from Airport Road metro to Terminal 2 and WEH metro/Chakala bus stop to Terminal 1 of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA).

Further, BEST also needs to provide a few services to Monorail stations. While the Mumbai Monorail itself has its own share of problems, all those are in MMRDA’s domain but connectivity to the monorail stations needs to be done.

Perhaps BEST can strike a deal with Reliance Infrastructure-led Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL) for more connectivity?

Given BEST’s decision to cancel tenders earlier in December 2019, it seems we will have to wait for a while before things change. The 21-seater Force Motors’ Traveller Smart Citibus seems to be a good choice so far.
But until then, let’s hope for the best. (Pun intended).

Featured Image: D. N. Nagar Metro Station (Superfast1111/Wikimedia Commons)

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After A Roaring Start, BEST Now Backtracks on Minibuses

After an amazing start in the last two months using its new minibuses, BEST has now decided to do something rather silly.

To give a background, these buses are super popular. In my previous post, I had mentioned the routes back then. Since then, BEST has added a few new routes in Andheri.

A-252 goes to Sardar Vallabhai Patel Nagar, A-266 and A-268 to Swami Samarth Nagar Circle (Lokhandwala Market), A-203 goes to Juhu Bus Station and A-221 has been extended to Natasha Towers.

BEST further extended the services from Andheri to Jogeshwari, running then on A-180 from Jogeshwari Bus Station to Oshiwara Depot and A-234 running from Jogeshwari to Lokhandwala.

BEST also announced two new routes from Wadala Station, A-174 from Wadala Station (West) to Bharani Naka and A-110 to Vidyalankar (Sangam Nagar).

The Wadala lot was flagged of by newly sworn in cabinet minister Aaditya Thackeray.

Junior Thackeray was instrumental in bringing in Humboldt Penguins from North Chile to Mumbai in 2016, where they were housed at the Veermata Jijabhai Udhyan (Byculla Zoo) prior to the untimely death of one of them. He was also pushing for more nightlife back in 2017, a move I had supported.

Also Read: More Nightlife In Mumbai Is Great But Can We Also Focus On Improved Public Transport?

BEST’s success in Andheri resulted in auto-rickshaws crying foul. BEST officials estimate that with an average of 12 trips a day per bus, it has affected nearly 5,292 auto rides per day. Of course, naysayers will be present. One expert questioned why BEST decided to send in such a large contingent to Andheri. The answer to that is simple: Trial and Error.

Why did BEST suddenly go on this path? They had after all cancelled all its AC routes after half a year of trying out happy hours and discounted fares, which did seem to be working. But they had burnt their fingers too much. The existing fleet of Purple Faeries had to be converted to a non-AC fleet, now mostly seen in SoBo.

It all began with former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis appointing IAS officer Praveen Pardeshi as the Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai. After a six day-strike in December 2018-January 2019, and mounting losses of ₹1,000 crore, Pardeshi overrided BEST’s autonomy and provided a grant of ₹2,000 that allowed the undertaking to stand on its feet again.

Now, keeping these experiments in mind, BEST has altered some routes. As states earlier, A-221 now travels to Natasha Towers. A-249 has an additional stop at Dhake Colony. A-251 unfortunately travels only between Versova-Yari Road and Seven Bungalows while A-242 seems cancelled. A-257 is a ring route that goes from Andheri Station to JVPD Circle via JP Road and Link Road but then turns onto Gulmohar Road before reaching the station via Juhu Gali (CD Barfiwala Marg).

BEST has since launched a plethora of routes in SoBo as well. (Ignore the date, it should read 2020 instead of 2019.) Buses from Churchgate and CSMT to Ballard Pier, the Gateway of India, and Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee Chowk (Museum). The Buses are A-122, A-111, A-112 and A-101. BEST has also cancelled A-54 and A-55 due to low patronage.

While this fleet is based on diesel buses, BEST runs A-167 from Comrade P K Kurne Chowk in Worli to Prabhadevi Station (West), A-352 from Rani Lakshmi Chowk (Sion Circle) to Trombay, A-302 from Rani Lakshmi Chowk to Maharana Pratap Chowk/Mulund Check Naka Bus Station using the Olectra Midi-bus fleet that are electric buses.

Now, BEST will also receive a batch of 500 midi CNG powered buses from Tata. Ten of them have already made their way to the Mumbai Central Depot.

In the midst of this, came some bad news.

Now, while the reason specified is ‘Administrative’, it doesn’t take a genius to know what’s going on here. If you really must know, look up who all form the current government, then read my first post on BEST’s AC buses followed by this article I had written for OpIndia.

The curious case of BEST and its AC buses

The ‘BEST’ scamster Indians should know about – Congress and the Khobragades have a lot to explain

Is BEST slipping back to its old ways?

Featured image by Karthik Nadar on Twitter.

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