State to preserve last double-decker bus in city; Min asks Transport dept to do the needful

Kolkata: With the joint effort of the state Transport minister and a bus fan organisation, the last double decker bus in the city scripted a miraculous journey back to life right from the scrapyard and is now set to be preserved.

On Friday, Soumyadip Mitra of ‘Kolkata Bus-o – Pedia’ suddenly came across a double decker bus at Kantakol in front of Rabindra Bharati University which is a graveyard for vehicles. He sent pictures of it to Aniket Banerjee, general secretary of Kolkata Bus-o-Pedia. Banerjee contacted Snehasis Chakraborty, minister in-charge of the Transport department and requested him to save the bus from being scrapped.

The minister gave his assurance. It was in 2005 when the last double-decker bus went off Kolkata roads due to the pollution and high intake of fuel. On Friday night Banerjee had also mailed to both the minister and the secretary of the department. On Saturday afternoon, the organisation’s president Souvik Mukherjee was informed through a phone call by the minister that the bus will be shifted to Paikpara depot and steps will be taken for its preservation. “Today’s young generation hardly know that double decker buses were an integral part of our transport system. It is a part of our rich heritage, similar to that of yellow taxis, hand pulled rickshaws etc. Hence, we were desperate to save the bus,” Banerjee said.

Transport department sources said the bus was renovated in 2016 and it used to run at Eco Park in New Town as a joyride. However, after the park was closed in March 2020 due to Covid, the service stalled. The bus is almost 35-years-old with a damaged chassis, rendering it non-functional. In the board meeting of West Bengal Transport Corporation in February, the bus was declared as condemned and fit for scrapping.

“I personally felt that this bus being the last in our fleet should be preserved and instructed the department to do the needful. It is now in the Paikpara depot. We will soon decide on how to preserve it,” said the minister.

The Transport department gave two double-decker buses to the Tourism department in 2022 for tourism purposes but its upper deck is not covered. However, this bus still has its private manufacturer’s logo and the tiger symbol associated with Calcutta State Transport Corporation.

The Transport department has plans to develop a museum in the city or its outskirts and keep the bus along with a palanquin, horse drawn tram etc that were once part of the transport fleet.