In a move to extend its network and significantly benefit commuters, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) has announced new air-conditioned (AC) bus services from Mantralaya to Thane district in Maharashtra. The services will commence on Sunday, June 1. The new AC bus route, numbered A-490, will connect Mumbai and Balkum in Thane.
This will be a major convenience for commuters travelling via the Eastern Freeway and the Eastern Expressway. According to a report by The Times of India, the first AC bus from Thane will depart at 7:30 am and 8:30 am, while the return buses from Mantralaya will operate at 5:30 pm and 6:00 pm.
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BEST has also rolled out changes across 30 different routes in Mumbai, including the introduction of new AC routes, rerouting, renumbering, and revised schedules. Several existing non-AC bus routes will be upgraded to AC services starting June 1. For example, bus route number 8, which currently runs between Mantralaya and Shivaji Nagar, will be upgraded to an air-conditioned service and renumbered as A-8.
The current AC route AC-10, which operates between Backbay Bus Depot and Rani Laxmibai Chowk, will also be rerouted. Its present path via Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Chowk, Reserve Bank, and P. D'Mello Road to Dockyard Railway Station will be discontinued. Instead, the revised route will pass through Hutatma Chowk, Mahatma Phule Mandai, and Bhendi Bazar.