West Bengal government brings back Kolkata’s iconic double decker buses

While for now these two buses will be used for puja parikrama, they will later be used to boost Kolkata’s tourism

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee unveiled two open-roof double-decker buses on Tuesday.

The new buses will have features like automatic doors, destination boards, panic buttons and CCTV cameras. While the old buses used to have two doors, these will have one door. Of the 51 seats, there will be 16 on the upper deck. (Sourced)

“Such buses are usually seen in London and will be used here for hop-on hop-off tours. The booking can be done online from October 23,” she said.

The buses will pass by heritage buildings and important landmarks in Kolkata such as Writers’ Building, GPO and Victoria Memorial. The authorities will revise the route to include more landmarks depending on the demand.

“Folk artists will perform on the bus to showcase the culture of Bengal,” she added.

The double-decker buses were introduced in the 1920s. The erstwhile Left Front government phased them out in the early 1990s. In 2005, the last bus went off city roads. In 2011, after coming to power, Banerjee directed the transport department to bring back the iconic buses.

“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,” said a transport department official.

The new buses will have features like automatic doors, destination boards, panic buttons and CCTV cameras. While the old buses used to have two doors, these will have one door. Of the 51 seats, there will be 16 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,” said the official.

While the festive season has already started and puja shopping is going on in full swing, the construction of pandals is also in the final stage. In some places, the idols of Goddess Durga have already arrived. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is going to virtually inaugurate dozens of pujas over three days. Puja starts from October 23.