Kolkata’s iconic double-decker buses are back, will hit the road soon
As of now these two buses will be used for Durga puja parikrama and pandal hopping. Later they will be used for tourism
KOLKATA : After 15 long years, Kolkata’s iconic double-decker buses will return on the roads of the city. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday unveiled two open-roof double-decker buses from the state secretariat. For now, these two modern buses will be used for ‘Durga Puja Parikrama’, however, they will later be used to boost tourism in Kolkata.
“As of now these two will be used for puja parikrama and pandal hopping. Later they will be used for tourism, such as hop-on hop-off tours. They are not meant for commercial services," Hindustan Times quoted a transport department official as saying.
We have seen how London tours on the open top double-deckers. Now, tourists in West Bengal will also be able to take these buses for sight-seeing tours in Kolkata.
The newly-pained blue and white double-deckers will have new features like automatic doors, destination boards, panic buttons and CCTV cameras. While the old buses used to have two doors, these new buses will have one door. There will be overall 51 seats in the buses, of which 16 will be there on the upper deck.
“The buses will be painted in blue and white, the favourite colour of the chief minister, and will be BS-IV complaint. One of the main purposes the old double decker buses were phased out was that they used to consume a lot of fuel and hence were uneconomical. They were polluting too," the official added.
The two buses were purchased from Jamshedpur-based BEBCO by West Bengal Transport Corporation but will now be maintained by West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation as per the state government.
It was in 2005 when the last bus went off Kolkata roads due to the pollution and high intake of fuel. In 2011, after coming to power, Mamata Banerjee ordered the transport department to bring back the iconic buses.
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