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Updated: Jun 22, 2019 03:20 IST

The Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL) on Friday extended three of its most successful bus routes, in addition to increasing its fleet strength using buses from the recently discontinued Route 132, which ran from Ambience Mall to Sector 10, but was halted due to poor performance.

The modified routes, which were implemented early on Friday, include Route 111 (from Huda City Centre to Badhshapur), which has been extended to Maruti Kunj; Route 112 (from Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam to Krishna Chowk, Palam Vihar), which has been extended till Gurugram Railway Station, and Route 116 (from Dwarka Expressway to Tau Devilal Biodiversity Park), which will now run till Kendriya Vihar in Sector 56.

With these new routes, the Gurugaman bus service has added approximately 22 kilometres of road network to its area of coverage, explained Arun Sharma, general manager, GMCBL. “The most significant extension is the one from Huda City Centre to Maruti Kunj, which are about 15km apart,” Sharma said, explaining that the extension would introduce a mass transit option between two important multimodal transit hubs in the city. “Both locations attract a lot of working class citizens daily, and many people continue onward to Maruti Kunj after alighting at Huda City Centre, hence the reason for extending the service,” Sharma added.

The GMCBL will also be using its current surplus of 25 buses, which were put out of service after the discontinuation of Route 132 last month, to enhance fleet strength on these three modified routes, each of which will be allotted an additional five or six buses. “As these routes are our busiest, we want to increase frequency and shorten the cycle time between buses,” Sharma explained.

Before the month ends, GMCBL officials confirmed, a fourth route would also be modified. “Route 134, which goes from Dhana Mod in IMT Manesar will be extended to conclude right outside the Iffco Chowk Metro station, which will solve last mile connectivity issues for commuters who presently have to walk some distance to catch a bus,” Sharma added.