12 Kolkata: After a prod from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and amid growing demands to improve public transportation, the Kolkata transport department has planned a significant augmentation of bus services, including more buses, increased trip frequencies, and introduction of new routes.
Despite facing challenges like a shortage of drivers and conductors, the department is set to expand its fleet with 640 buses from the existing 550.This will result in 800 additional daily trips and bring the total to 3,300 trips starting Monday.
In a bid to tackle congestion in key areas, 18 buses will now operate per shift in the New Town area, amounting to 36 buses daily and 108 trips. Similarly, other routes will see 26 buses per shift, generating 156 trips daily. Special circular routes have been introduced to cover major city landmarks such as Rashbehari, Gariahat, Kalighat, Alipore, and Exide, contributing an additional 24 trips daily.
Transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty emphasised the govt's commitment to alleviating commuter struggles, stating, "As per Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's instructions, we have increased the frequency of bus services. However, this is not enough. We are conducting inspections on Monday to take stock of the situation and to further improve the system and ease the burden on passengers."
The augmentation focuses on seven key routes leading to new growth areas like Sector IV and New Town, with buses increased from 51 to 69. Across 27 city routes, bus deployments rose from 203 to 368, improving daily trips from 508 to 898, said a senior transport department officer. New routes such as DS-1 (Barasat–Nabanna) and T-15 (Park Circus–Ghatakpukur) have been introduced, while routes like D-10 (Barasat–Joka–Amotola) and D27E (Jadavpur–Ecospace) now contribute 30 and 4 trips, respectively.
The department is seeking financial approval for additional drivers and conductors to sustain these improvements and further increase trip frequencies on popular routes. The move aims to enhance the reliability and accessibility of Kolkata's public transportation, offering relief to commuters while addressing the city's growing transportation demands, said a senior transport department officer. Besides improving the performance of the services of state transport undertakings (STUs), there will be a special focus on the operation of the private-run public transport system. "Our officers will check out shedding of buses, frequency of trips, and frequency after sunset. Since a large number of buses installed vehicle-location-tracking-device (VLTD), we will track them," said an officer.