Mumbai's double-decker buses all set for comeback in electric avatar

Mumbai's iconic double-decker buses are set for a comeback in an electric avatar with a Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) official stating that their numbers will match the highs of the 1990s by next year.

The financial capital is the last urban area where these double-deckers are still running, though they were once found in Kolkata, Bengaluru, Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram and Chennai, officials said.

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 losses began to mount and operating costs went north.

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.

First in India

A new electric air-conditioned double-decker bus was launched last week, a first for India, with BEST general manager Lokesh Chandra saying it would hit the roads from September.

"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," Chandra said.

"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 introduction of smaller buses," the BEST GM explained.

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.

Over the years

Double-deckers over the years underwent some design changes, starting with ones having a single blink cabin and sloping engine cover that looked like clones of London's Routemaster.

In 1967, BEST introduced articulated double-decker buses for the first time in the country.

Commenting on the decline in the number of these vehicles, Sunil Ganacharya, former member of BEST Committee, the policy making body of the Undertaking, said operating costs were a major factor as one needed to deploy two conductors and also due to higher consumption of diesel.

Moreover, manufacturers had stopped production of these double-decker buses, which was also a reason for the decline in numbers, he added.

However, the new electric buses are coming as part of a wet lease model, in which contractors take care of the cost of crew and maintenance, as indicated by BEST GM Chandra at the launch of the new double-decker last week.

He said the operating cost of their existing buses is ₹150 per kilometer, while the same of the double decker and single decker e-buses on wet lease model cost ₹56 and ₹46, respectively.

According to officials, double-decker buses have a carrying capacity of 78 passengers, while that of single-deck electric buses is 54 passengers.

A double decker brings revenue of ₹79 per kilometre, much higher than ₹43 for single decker buses.

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