Mumbai’s iconic double-decker buses to be phased out

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, December 26

Mumbai’s municipal-run BEST undertaking has begun to phase out its iconic double-decker buses citing their high costs of maintenance.

BEST officials said they have pulled out 12 of the 120 double-decker buses on their fleet by the first week of this month.

“There will be 48 buses on the roads in a year’s time and soon they will also be replaced by single-decker buses,” a spokesman for the BEST said.

According to officials, the BEST stopped ordering new double-decker buses several years ago and the existing buses are long past their useful age.

Earlier attempts to scrap the buses were thwarted by concerned citizens who warned that Mumbai would lose its heritage.

While a single-decker bus has a capacity of 72 passengers, a double-decker carries 91 since standing passengers are not permitted on the upper deck.

Moreover an additional conductor has to be deployed in a double-decker bus.

Moreover, say officials, a double-decker costs around Rs 1 lakh every year to maintain — 25 per cent more than a single-decker vehicle.

BEST, which is on a drive to modernise its fleet, has ordered nearly 1000 new buses which are being delivered in stages.

Officials say, the new buses are fuel-efficient and carry far more passengers than the existing single and double-decker buses.

At a meeting of heritage activists earlier this week, BEST officials said some of the double-decker buses could be used to ferry tourists after the roofs of the buses are dismantled.

A few of them will also be donated to charitable organisations to be turned into mobile libraries, according to officials.

Double-deckers were introduced in Mumbai in 1937 shortly after they made their appearance in London.