Delhi Launches 56 Ladies Special Buses Connecting Connaught Place and University Hubs
Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu and Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Wednesday flagged off 56 ladies’ special buses from the Delhi University Sports Complex, connecting major hubs across the city including Connaught Place, Nehru Place, AIIMS, ITO, Karol Bagh, and Kashmere Gate.
The launch followed comprehensive review meetings on women’s safety held last month, during which the Lieutenant-Governor had called for dedicated ladies-only bus operations on designated routes across the capital.
The 56-bus deployment includes 30 buses running across 15 high-demand transit routes and 26 buses operating on 13 University-specific corridors. The services are scheduled to operate during morning and evening peak hours, providing transit between residential areas and prominent Delhi University institutions such as Hindu College, Ramjas College, Daulat Ram College, Shri Ram College of Commerce, Lady Shri Ram College, Gargi College, Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College, and Hansraj College.
According to officials, female staff will operate the services, and women police personnel alongside Home Guards will be deployed on board. Chief Minister Gupta stated that the buses are equipped with panic buttons directly integrated into the Delhi Police 112 PCR emergency response system, enabling rapid alert transmission during emergencies to ensure passenger safety.
Transport Minister Dr Pankaj Kumar Singh described the initiative as a dedicated gift to women ahead of Raksha Bandhan, aimed at delivering safe, dignified, and convenient public travel for working women and students.
Alongside the ladies’ special buses, the leaders flagged off 200 new electric buses, bringing Delhi’s electric bus fleet past 5,000 vehicles and increasing the total Delhi Transport Corporation fleet to 6,800. The newly inducted fleet includes 88 12-metre electric buses and 112 nine-metre DEVI buses. Officials noted that the DTC intends to convert its entire fleet to electric vehicles and expand total capacity to approximately 14,000 buses by 2028-29.
Additionally, authorities inaugurated a public EV charging station equipped with four 240-kW chargers at Rajghat Depot-1 and launched five air-conditioned inter-State buses connecting Kashmere Gate to Karnal.
