Legacy of iconic non-AC double-deckers will remain

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking will be putting up the bus on display either at their museum or depot.

Mumbai: The legacy of the iconic non AC double-decker buses will not die out soon and is all set to enter the ‘hall of fame’ as at least one of the remaining vehicles will be put up for public display for the citizens to reminiscence the essence of the old city.

On Friday, the regular double-decker buses, which started operations in 1937, ended their streak on the city roads. To mark the day, BEST decorated the last bus that ran between Agarkar Chowk and Seepz. Sources in BEST said that the last bus, which carried out 34 trips, was then taken to Marol depot for the last time. (Vijay Bate/HT Photo)

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking will be putting up the bus on display either at their museum or depot.

“I have informed my staff not to scrap the remaining non-AC double-decker buses for now. We will be keeping it for public display as it is part of this city’s history,” Vijay Singhal, general manager, BEST Undertaking, said.

On Friday, the regular double-decker buses, which started operations in 1937, ended their streak on the city roads. To mark the day, BEST decorated the last bus that ran between Agarkar Chowk and Seepz. Sources in BEST said that the last bus, which carried out 34 trips, was then taken to Marol depot for the last time.

The remaining four double-decker buses running on diesel in their fleet have been taken off-road as they have outlived their life span of 15 years.

Meanwhile, Singhal said that they are upgrading the old double-decker buses with the new electric AC double-decker buses. “There are already 35 in the fleet and will get a total of 900 such AC double-decker e-buses in the coming months,” he said.

Currently, 16 AC double-decker e-buses are on the road, and BEST will soon start four new AC double-decker e-buses in south Mumbai, and 15 in the western and eastern suburbs. Out of 200 AC double-decker e-buses, 35 e-buses are in the fleet while the remaining 165 e-buses will arrive by March 2024.

Similarly, another manufacturer will start supplying 700 AC double-decker e-buses of which 50 buses will come in by December. BEST will introduce 10 new Nilambari open-deck buses that will be part air-conditioned.

“The BEST will call tenders for these 10 semi-AC open double deck buses whereby the base deck will have AC while the upper deck will be open to the sky,” BEST officials said.