London e-double-decker buses revive hope for Kolkata

KOLKATA: The introduction of e-double-decker buses in London has revived the hope for the iconic vehicle’s reintroduction in Kolkata. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had herself wanted to bring back double-decker bus ever since she came to power in 2011. But lower emission standard of its fleet, produced by its biggest producer Ashok Leyland, became a major stumbling block for bringing back the vehicle.

But, after acquiring the majority stake of Optare, the UK based e-vehicle specialist, Ashok Leyland has started rolling out e-double decker, which can redefine the commuting in London, said Andrew Stokes, business development manager of Catapult, which closely works with Transport for London, a government body responsible for transport in Greater London. He was speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting at Bengal Chamber of Commerce on Friday. “This is certainly a good news. But, we need to check out the specifications of these buses to see if they match infrastructure we have developed in the city for our fleet of e-bus,” said a West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) official.

The plan to reintroduce the double-decker buses was announced last year in the state assembly by transport minister Suvendu Adhikari. These buses would help articulate chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s dream of transforming Kolkata into a modern global city, Adhikari had said in the assembly. Even Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay had turned nostalgic while recalling his childhood memories associated with the buses.

“We found the emission standard of these buses as the biggest hurdle as far as its reintroduction is concerned. Then buses were complying BS-III emission standard, but we had a regime of BS-IV standard for new vehicles,” said a senior officer. “But these e-double-deckers don’t emit at all and a lot of innovation and research has gone into it as far as battery life and charging are concerned,” said Tom Reade, principal sustainability consultant, air quality of Hilson Moran.

Double-decker buses were first introduced by the British in 1926 and it continued to be part of Kolkata’s diverse transportation system for nearly seven decades. However, from the 1990s, the Left Front government began phasing out these buses citing high operational and maintenance costs. Against Rs 45/km for a regular bus, the operating cost of a double-decker bus was Rs 75/km. The monster buses also guzzled fuel at 2.5km to a litre. In terms of passenger capacity, it could carry 91 passengers as against 75 in a single-deck bus.

Till the 1990s, articulated double-decker buses or the ones that had a separate driver’s cabin with twin decks attached to the trailer, were in operation on a handful routes — Golpark-Dunlop (L9) and Thakurpukur-Howrah (12D). Incidentally, the first double-decker bus had plied between Shyambazar and Kalighat.

There are, however, several challenges in operating these buses in Kolkata now. Apart from lack of an indigenous supplier, the buses cannot ply on flyovers with height barriers. On the EM Bypass, the gap between the road and the overhead Metro stations isn’t enough for double-decker buses to ply.