Mumbai’s iconic double-decker bus to have a grand comeback where the busses will now be electric.
The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) official has stated that these buses will match the numbers during the 1990s.
According to officials, BEST had the highest number of double-decker buses in 1990, before the figures started dipping post-1995. By 2006, the city’s premier road transport utility had 225 double-deckers as there were huge losses.
There are some 50 left in Mumbai, most of these plying in the southern part of the city and some being used to give heritage tours to tourists.
This existing batch was introduced in 2007 and would soon go off the roads at the end of their codal (operational) life, officials added.
A new electric air-conditioned double-decker bus was launched last week, a first for India, with BEST general manager Lokesh Chandra told a leading news daily.
The BEST double-decker, now electric!
— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) January 27, 2022
CM Uddhav Thackeray and I have been personally keen on reviving Mumbai’s iconic double-decker buses. pic.twitter.com/lQkjvKlVgh
“Two bus contractors will give BEST 900 electric double-deckers by the end of 2023. In the 1990s, we had over 900 double-decker buses and we are soon going to go back to the same situation by the end of next year,” said the manager.
“Mumbai witnesses heavy traffic and double-deckers, at 10.5 metres, can carry 100 passengers against normal buses that ferry about 50. These double-deckers will help us regain carrying capacity of 1.5 lakh seats per day, which were lost due to the introduction of smaller buses,” continued the manager.
The new electric AC double-decker bus has a twin door-stairway arrangement, bigger windows, bucket seats, CCTVs, charging points for phones and laptops and public address systems.
“Double-decker buses were introduced in 1937 to cope better with the growing traffic. The single-deck vehicle carried 36 passengers; the double-decker could take as many as 58. This, and its sheer size and look, made the double-decker popular as soon as it was put on the roads”, said an excerpt from SN Pendsay’s book ‘The B.E.S.T Story’.
