Thane, September 19: Two years after being proposed, the Thane municipal corporation (TMC) started an exclusive bus service for women. The first women-only bus, called as Tejaswini bus was inaugurated on Wednesday by the Thane Municipal Transport (TMT), mid-day reported. These buses will be equipped with features such as CCTVs, panic alarms and Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking system.

The 50 Tejaswini buses will begin service by the end of this month. The conductors on these vehicles will be women while the drivers will be men. TMT buses ply on 97 routes. Speaking to mid-day, a TMT official said, "These buses are exclusively for women from 6 am to 12 pm and 6 pm to 12 am. Male passengers will be allowed to travel during non-peak hours."

The buses, which costs Rs 28 lakh, have 27 seats each. The Maharashtra government has provided Rs six crore to Thane Municipal Transport for the buses. Earlier, the state government had announced 300 buses in significant cities such as Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Nagpur, and Kalyan-Dombivli.

The proposal for Tejaswini buses was made in 2016-17. After two years, the municipal body approved the purchase of buses for Thane city last month. The buses aim to provide better safety to women commuters.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 19, 2019 03:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).