State government plans to bring back Kolkata's iconic double-decker buses

Kolkata: The state government is seriously considering a proposal to reintroduce the double-decker buses on city roads.

Following the direction of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a senior official of the state Transport department went to London and conducted a survey regarding the plying of double-decker buses.

It may be mentioned that the Chief Minister saw double-decker buses during her visit to London and urged the state Transport department officials to take necessary steps to reintroduce double-decker buses in the city.

Suvendu Adhikari, the state Transport minister, informed the state Assembly on Wednesday that the government is taking the proposal of reintroducing double-decker buses into serious consideration. He further stated that only a few buses will be reintroduced.

The double-decker buses will be open-top in design. It may be mentioned that the final decision on whether they would be meant mainly for tourism or daily commuters as well, is yet to be taken.

At the same time, other necessary aspects for operating the double-decker buses are also yet to be discussed.

Double-decker buses were introduced by private operators in Kolkata in the 1930s. In 1932 when the Indians started boycotting British goods following Mahatma Gandhi's Civic Disobedience Movement, the English cricket skipper Douglas Jardine of the infamous Bodyline Series on his way back to England stayed in Kolkata (then Calcutta) and through advertisements published by the British government, urged the commuters to avail double-decker buses and trams.

After independence, Calcutta State Transport Corporation was set up and double-decker buses were introduced in Calcutta by the state government. The buses used to ply on several routes including bus number 2, which used to ply from Ballygunge to Pikepara and number 2B, from Ballygunge to Baghbazar.

Bus number 33 used to ply from Chetla to Pikepara while L9 used to ply from Golpark to Dunlop. L20 used to ply from Barrackpore to Esplanade, while 5 and 6 used to ply from Garia to Howrah. Bus number 16 used to ply from Dhakuria to Botanical Garden. From Howrah to Gouribari, bus number 15 used to ply, which was later extended to Ultadanga.

The fleet had been discarded from 1985 in phases, as spare parts of Leyland buses became unavailable. Also, it became a very expensive affair to import Leylands from England. Both the engines and the coaches were manufactured by Leyland.