Himachal to replace its ageing bus fleet, says Bali

Shimla, Oct 13 (UNI) The Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) will phase out 600 ageing buses that have been found unsafe for ferrying people, state Transport and Tourism Minister G S Bali said.

''The buses having run over six lakh km will be phased out over a period of time and replaced by a new fleet,'' he told UNI here.

Mr Bali said most of these were plying on the interior mountainous parts of the state and were susceptible to accidents.

The Corporation, which has a fleet of 1,710 buses, would soon announce an auction of these buses, which would be replaced by a new fleet, he said.

He said the process of buying new buses would start soon and these buses would run on difficult mountainous terrains to minimize accidents due to mechanical failure.

UNI AS JN KR HS1614