Municipal buses, gifted to the city of Jalal-Abad for the City Day celebration, are currently operational on designated routes.
Due to the absence of compressed natural gas refueling stations in Jalal-Abad region, the buses currently refuel in neighboring Uzbekistan. It’s expected that they will to continue to do so until the end of 2023.
The buses started operating on December 1 covering five city routes and cross the border through the Bek-Abad checkpoint in Suzak district.
The head of the municipal bus depot Avtandil Maksutov assured that this temporary arrangement, refueling with compressed natural gas in Uzbekistan twice a week, does not impact passenger services, emphasizing it’s a short-term solution until their local refueling station is completed.
“The distance to a gas station [in Uzbekistan] is about 50 km. If 25 buses go to serve the city, they all go to refuel with methane. Refueling is done twice a week. One methane refueling is enough for 3 days, the capacity is up to 23 cubic meters of methane,” he said.
Construction of the station in Jalal-Abad is underway by a company from Uzbekistan. Construction began 10 days ago.
As part of the celebration of city day in Jalal-Abad, 50 natural gas-powered buses, manufactured by a Chinese company, were gifted to the city by the country’s leadership. These buses have a capacity ranging from 24 to 34 passengers and a length of 12 meters.
Source: AKIPress