GAS-POWERED BUSES ARRIVE IN MAPUTO

Maputo’s publicly owned bus company TPM has now received the first consignment of buses from India that run on compressed natural gas.!50 of these buses have been ordered, and so far 32 have arrived. A further 18 are expected this week.According to the interim chairperson of the TPM board, Silvestre Constantino, cited in Wednesday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”, 50 more buses will arrive in July and the final 50 in August.The buses that have already arrived, manufactured by the Indian company Tata, are currently in Maputo port, awaiting customs clearance. They will then be given number plates and insurance policies so that they can start operating on the TPM routes.Constantino said the buses will operate on routes where there is a serious shortage of public transport – including between Maputo and the adjoining city of Matola, as well as to the districts of Boane and Marracuene.He warned that even 150 new buses will not end the transport crisis in the Maputo metropolitan area, though they would certainly cut waiting times at the bus stops and terminals.Currently TPM is operating with less than 100 buses to cover the company’s 56 routes. Constantino estimates that TPM needs a minimum of 280 buses on the streets.The gas-powered buses were purchased under a credit system financed by the government’s Transport and Communications Fund (FTC). It is expected that the use of natural gas, a Mozambican resource, will greatly reduce TPM’s expenditure on imported liquid fuels.To guarantee maintenance of the buses, TPM has sent engineers and mechanics for training in India. TPM has also recruited 300 new bus drivers and the same number of fare collectors.The buses can refuel with compressed natural gas at the TPM premises in central Maputo, and at a supply post near the MOZAL aluminium smelter on the outskirts of the city.