Blueline buses to be phased out of capital

Recent spate of accidents has prompted move

NEW DELHI: Two days after a speeding private blueline bus rammed into several vehicles at a traffic intersection killing a boy and injuring seven others, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday said the vehicles would be phased out in the capital.

“We are planning to phase out blueline buses from the capital,” Dikshit told reporters. She said her government was getting ready to increase the number of high-capacity low-floor buses, which are running only on two routes. There are over 3,000 blueline buses in the capital.

Stating that abrupt withdrawal of all blueline buses from the roads, a demand raised by many, would lead to an increase in unemployment besides causing inconvenience to commuters, she said: “Withdrawal of the buses would be done in phases.”

It was a seven-car pile-up that killed 11-year-old Morick Sharma and injured seven others, including his father Surinder and brother Gorick, in the horrific accident at Raja Garden Chowk on Sunday.

Jaswinder Singh, the blueline bus driver, was arrested Monday. But it will be the same old story. The charges against him are minor and it will be near impossible to find out if he was drunk. The bus was racing at 80 kilometres an hour, that's double the speed limit.

Haroon Yusuf, state transport minister, on Tuesday visited the family of Morick and assured them that strong action would be taken against the bus driver.