You couldn't have missed the low-floor, long green buses that purr up by the kerb, pick up passengers and very quietly amble back into traffic and move on. The deep maroon versions are even better.

These are the first signs of the monumentally mismanaged state-owned public transport company of turning around, slowly but surely. The aim is to reclaim 60 per cent of Delhi's bus transport system by 2010.

There was a time when DTC owned Delhi, 16 years ago. And then came the first of the intruders and then some more and then some more till the arrival of the dreaded Redlines that turned Delhi roads red with blood.

As public outrage mounted, DTC watched on helplessly from the sidelines, crippled by an ageing bus fleet, bloated muster roll and a leadership bent upon atomizing the giant. Now the turnaround.

DTC chairman Ramesh Negi says, "The outcry against the Blueline buses also forced the government to revamp the bus system by strengthening the DTC and inviting the big Corporate houses to replace individual and small bus operators." Prakash Verma, of Saket, says, "With DTC now bringing more low floor buses, there is no question of boarding a Blueline bus.