Mumbai to Say Goodbye to Iconic Red Double-decker Buses on Sep 15 After Over 80 Years of Its Service

Mumbai’s iconic red double-decker buses are set to go off the streets from September 15. They have been an integral part of the city’s public transport system for over eight decades.

Apart from this, Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking said that the open-deck double-decker buses, which have been served as sightseeing buses since the 1990s, will also disappear from the streets.

This will take place in the first week of October.

Red double-decker buses

Red double-decker buses were introduced in the city’s public transport system in 1937, gradually becoming the symbol of the city itself.

In the beginning of the 1990s, the BEST had a fleet of around 900 double-decker buses, but the number gradually declined after the mid-90s.

Why are they being discontinued?

The BEST administration stopped inducting double-decker buses after 2008, due to its high operating cost.

Since February this year, the BEST started replacing them with leased battery-run red and black double-decker buses. Till now, about 25 such buses have been introduced.

The BEST, in a release last week, said it is going to procure open-deck buses for sighting-seeing and it has already started the process of acquiring them.

Until then, the new battery-run double-decker e-buses will be operated for tourists.

Commuters Miss The Old Buses

With new ones introduced, some commuters say that they lack the charm of the original ones.

“As the new double-decker e-buses are air-conditioned, we will miss sitting in the front in the old buses and travelling with the breeze from the open windows on our faces,” said Harshad Joshi, a bus enthusiast.

To prevent the double-decker buses from going under the hammer, a commuters’ body “Aapli BEST Aaplyasathi” has written to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal and Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar and the BEST’s general manager urging them to stop these buses from meeting the same fate as trams, which were the first mode of public transport in the city.

With PTI Inputs