BEST double-deckers stay on road, at least for now

MUMBAI: Sitting in the front row on the upper deck, taking in the breeze and sights on Marine Drive as the double-decker makes its way along the shoreline would arguably be an enduring memory of life in the city for most. So it seems entirely apposite that these iconic doubledeckers were spared the axe—at least temporarily—when the ever-in-decline BEST decided to downsize its fleet by 900 more buses recently.




All 120 double-deckers will continue operations in the island city and suburbs, with nearly 100% presence on roads daily, BEST officials said Tuesday. BEST has been shedding staff and vehicles and trimming staff allowances to check expenditure as part of reforms suggested by BMC, the city’s apex administrative body.

“It has taken 21% of the fleet off roads in recent months, reducing the strength from 4,200 buses to 3,300. But there are strict instructions not to touch/downsize the double-decker fleet,” said a BEST official. Operational costs for double-deckers are 1.5 times those of an ordinary bus, but transport managers take pride in its legacy.

BEST introduced double deckers in India back in the boom years of the pre-World War II era. The service, modelled on the lines of London's red fleet, was launched to cope with the increase in office commuters in the island city. At the time of Independence, BEST had 242 of them; the number has steadily dropped over the decades owing to issues of maintenance and economic viability, and is now at 120.

Double-deckers also operate in Kolkata, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, and there are plans to reintroduce them in Bengaluru, an official said. However in Mumbai, the clock is ticking. The existing lot of double-deckers have a couple of more years of life left in them—they will be phased out at the end of this period. “We have no plans to procure more double-deckers or give orders for building these huge buses with double the carrying capacity,” a senior management official said.

He agreed that they attract scores of commuters, especially tourists, and are an integral part of the landscape, but added that cost of operations was unsustainably high. “It is Rs70 per km for a double-decker compared to Rs45 per km for a single-decker. Also, a doubledecker needs an additional conductor, which adds to establishment costs.

It also consumes more fuel,” an official added. In the popular imagination though, the double-decker remains one of the city’s most pleasing diversions, enshrined in cinema and memoirs. “It has been an exhilarating journey on the upper deck of these classic buses. They have been serving commuters since 1937 — from horse-drawn double-deckers to trailer buses and the modern day motorised twin-deck buses,” said Anil Gangwani, a regular traveller. The journey will soon end though.