“To avoid replication of work, we shifted 32 mechanics from Swargate to ten other depots last month. It has reduced some congestion at the main depot as well as given different tasks to the mechanics,” said chief engineer of PMPML Sunil M Burse.

Also, this year for the first time PMPML took a policy decision to scrap old buses. Out of its current fleet of 1,131 around 500 buses are 10-16 years old and are prohibited by rule from plying on road. However, 62 were scrapped in the last four months and over 100 buses are going to be scrapped in the next six months. “Old buses consume more diesel, have more breakdowns and their repairing takes about a month when it should not take more than three days. We are pushing the concept of scraping buses older than seven years,” said Burse. Also, the company has experimented with electric horns.

What is really going to improve efficiency according to Burse is the shift to aluminum from MS. “Aluminum is light and will improve efficiency drastically. Buses will no more require melding and will be easy to repair. We will also get more money when they are sold off as scrap,” said Burse.