Nagpur Metro, Aapli Bus services to run parallel

NAGPUR: The Nagpur Metro had started plying from March last year and it was expected that MahaMetro and Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) would sign an agreement for providing feeder services to Metro stations soon. Further, city buses would not ply on routes covered by Metro. However, both parties did not show interest and city buses continue to run on Hingna and Wardha roads causing loss of ridership to the Metro.
A senior official from the NMC’s transport department said there was no joint transport plan for Aapli Bus and Nagpur Metro to provide service in the city.“In fact, Metro’s demand to stop the city bus service on its routes was never discussed earlier. In the past, Metro officials never raised this and continued with their demand for NMC’s feeder bus service to stations,” the official clarified.
“Apart from feeder bus service, the Nagpur Metro had submitted a plan for Common Mobility Card (CMC), which too was rejected,” he claimed and further said the nationalized bank roped in for the service was insisting on 4% charge for transferring the money collected through the card.
Another reason for rejecting the CMC proposal was that the ticketing money would be transferred to the civic body’s account only after three days of swiping the card. “We have no problem introducing the CMC if we get the ticketing revenue collected through it the same day,” the official pointed out.
“Had we accepted the proposal, it would have been difficult to maintain the funds needed for operation of the Aapli Bus service,” the officer explained.
The official also said the NMC’s revenue from ticketing is around Rs6 crore per month and the gap funding by the civic body Rs7 crore to ensure smooth operation of the city bus service.
Apart from 1.50 lakh passengers, Aapli Bus was being used by almost 65,000 pass-holders per month. Metro was insisting us not to renew their pass and instead direct them towards it.
He also claimed that the civic body also provides discount not only to students but to regular pass-holders, senior citizens etc. Students get almost 67% discount every month, while regular pass-holders get 25% discount for two-month route pass.
A Metro official said a proposal had been submitted to the NMC for providing feeder services to 16 Metro stations and also to stop plying of city buses on Hingna and Wardha roads. “A meeting was held in NMC on our proposal and the municipal commissioner has to agree to the plan. Once that happens, we will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NMC for feeder services. NMC should cooperate with us as both stand to gain if people use Metro in large numbers,” he added.
Before the lockdown, MahaMetro had submitted proposals for providing feeder services to eight Metro stations. NMC had started services for six stations.
Municipal commissioner Radhakrishnan B has already ruled out any possibility to stop the Aapli Bus service on Metro routes.