Chief Minister to inspect the new vehicles fitted with two cameras

Set for roll-out: One of the two air-conditioned Volvo buses at the MTC depot on

Pallavan Salai on Tuesday.

The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) is all set to launch a fleet of air-conditioned Volvo Buses. Two state-of–the-art buses have been acquired by the MTC. On Tuesday they were parked inside its depot on Pallavan Salai.

Managing Director R. Balasubramanian said eight more Volvo Buses would be brought in this week and the fleet was most likely to be launched on September 17.

The buses were inspected by Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin on Tuesday. They would set off for the Secretariat on Wednesday for an inspection by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.

The two buses at the depot bear the numbers 19 G and 21 G. Officials said that other routes, on which these buses would travel, would be announced soon.

The buses have electronic controls and are fitted with two cameras, one at the rear and the other at the main entrance. The cameras would allow the driver to view the rear and entrance through an LCD display fitted near the driver’s seat. The officials at the depot said that this would help the driver control the doors and view those who were waiting to enter the bus.

Another special feature of the buses is that that they are completely disabled-friendly. The main entrance of the bus has a ramp and a ‘healing’ system which allows the bus to bend up and down as well as tilt to the left side.

Officials said that this would enable not only the disabled people but also old people to get into the bus without much difficulty. The fact that the driver could view all the activities near the door on the LCD display would also allow easy and safe access into the bus for all. According to Mr. Balasubramanian, the fare for travel in these buses was yet to be fixed.