CM brings Kolkata's iconic double decker buses back on streets

Kolkata: Giving a boost to the tourism sector by bringing back double decker buses that are linked with the city's heritage, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday introduced the project "Kolkata Connect 2020" in which people can visit Kolkata's landmark places in an open-air double decker bus.

Flagging off two open-air double-decker buses from infront of Nabanna, Banerjee said that the buses will take people for a tour to the landmark places in Kolkata like Victoria Memorial Hall, Fort William, St Johns Church, General Post Office (GPO), St Andrews Church, Dalhousie Square, Great Eastern Hotel, Curzon Park, Town Hall, Princep Ghat, Lal Dighi, Eden Gardens and Babughat. Such a facility is only available in London.

Banerjee proposed addition of more places of significance like Howrah Bridge, Vidyasagar Setu, National Library in the list.

"Nabanna is our administrative headquarter. It should also be included in the list of these places," Banerjee said, adding that later the route will also be revised with addition of a few more places.

Minister of State for Tourism department, Indranil Sen, Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, Director General of Police Virendra and Commissioner of Police Anuj Sharma were also present in the programme. From October 13 to 22, folk artists of Baul, Jhumur, Bhatiali, Kabigan and Tarja from different parts of the state will be performing on the bus during the ride with limited passengers.

The tour will take two hours and later the Tourism department will increase the number of buses. One can book tickets online by visiting the website of West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation – www.wbtdcl.com - for the service that will be available at 10.30 am and 11.30 am every day. Double decker buses in Kolkata started plying from 1924. The double decker bus service had to be withdrawn in 2005 with the increased volume of traffic in the city. In India it used to ply only in two metropolitan cities – Kolkata and Mumbai. Initially they were run privately.

PT Roy, a former student of Presidency College, was the owner of three double decker buses that used to run between Hazra and Shyambazar in the 1930s. In those days the buses did not have routes. After independence the buses were run by Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC).

Double deckers used to ply on different routes from Ballygunge station to Pikepara, Ballygunge to Baghbazar, Golpark to Dunlop, Barrackpore to Esplanade, Jadavpur to Howrah, Garia to Howrah and Ultadanga to Howrah. Double decker buses on route number 33 used to ply from Chetla to Pikepara.