From India's largest newsroom, I'm Arun George and this is the Times of India podcast. That's a clip from the 1976 hit Hindi film Chhoti Si Baat directed by Basu Chatterjee. Now you can't see it here, but if you watch the film which is available on YouTube and other platforms, the portion you just heard features a shot in which you can see two versions of the non air conditioned double Decker buses in Mumbai.
The last of the non air conditioned double Decker buses ran its last passenger route in the city on Friday the 15th of September. Since the last double Decker journey on Friday, social media has been flooded with clips and pictures from Mumbai of the buses and people's memories of it. By the time it was announced that the bus would be phased out, it was already running on
very limited routes. The double Decker bus existed in other Indian cities as well, but few Indian cities exploited its image like Mumbai. And like one of our guests on today's episode explains, there are few things as glorious as being on the top level of a double Decker bus, and you truly felt like you'd achieved something if you got the most hallowed of seats on the bus. The front seat. It's actually that the front seat on the top, that is
everybody's dream. I mean, you become a child when you go and sit over there and go to the window, it's like transports you back to another times. That is what double Decker is to me. And every time you see one, especially somewhere in, say, South Bombay or something, you'll really wish I was there. I grew up in Bangalore, so my first memories of double deckers were Bangalore double deckers, which are quite similar to the ones that were here for me. It's also movies, the Bombay VSD
buses for other cities. It was like, I think the best one after what was DTC? Because Durvashan used to show DTC buses. And Hindi movies and even the movies of the South, like anything that was shot in Bombay, just establishing shots or romantic shots are always in a double Decker bus. In the old days, it was always the couple in the top seat of a double Decker bus. That's one of the guests on our episode, Gopal.
Ms. Gopal is a chronicle of the constant change in the city of Mumbai through social media handles Mumbai pause on Instagram and Twitter. The 2nd guest on our episode is Vidhya Datdate. A former journalist and the head of a bus commuter group who explains why the demise of the double Decker is just the latest sign of the decline of buses in
the city. A bit of history about the double Decker bus in Mumbai. The first double Decker in the city was a tram that came to the city that was then called Bombay in 1920. In 1937, the city had its first double Decker bus. On the website of the BESD, which runs the buses in Mumbai, you can find photos of this double Decker tram and the first version of the rather ungainly double Decker bus. The first version of the bus looked a lot like a truck with a high trailer that carried
people. That design was refined decades later so that the driver's cabin was made part of the bus and you got the version of the bus that we now know. The double Decker, while iconic in appearance and experience, was never very efficient. Had a fuel economy that was worse than the regular bus, and it doesn't carry too many people more than a regular one. In the past two decades, the BST converted many of its double deckers into top open buses for tourism. You could rent it for events as
groups. And if you were a gangster in a Hindi film, well, it was a place to party. The old version of the double Decker will, for now, be replaced by air conditioned electric double Decker buses. The Best says it will have 900 of these buses by next year. Gopal Ms. who you heard earlier, explains why there's been this collective morning over the end of the double Decker era and also how to best preserve its legacy.
He also says he really has no problem with the new electric buses that are being brought in. Why do we hold on to this design itself? Because we know that it's a fundamentally. Inefficient design. We know that its fuel inefficient. It can go to a lot of parts of the city, especially now that Metro is being built across it. It has severe limitations as a
public transport device. Then what explains this sort of hold it has on us because theres nothing obviously likable about it. Yeah, there is no logic to it because it's nostalgia. It is that old Bombay. I mean, you're in Mumbai and you want to hold on to pieces of Bombay. And I think there is nothing more to it. In fact, I want the really old ones to come back, which had that, that truck lighting in the front where the cry was. Cabin was small.
Those look really cute. They had that charm, like the Calcutta traps. They really look good. But the truth is that with all the nostalgia, most of the people who want to ride those buses don't take buses. They make a lot of noise. I think that is what brought the electric buses because the nostalgia is there and even that kind of London fetish that BST has with that rent buses.
In fact, I think they chose this bus design because it has a resemblance to the electric buses of double Decker buses of London. There's also this sort of plan I've heard of which they want to have these buses standing in places, the old ones, that is the defunct ones, like there's one I think in a BKC complex there is one, which is that is an installation. Is that like something you want to see, or is the magic loss when it's stationary?
I actually went there when it was inaugurated, but The thing is, it's inside the gated community where the richest people in the country who come in BMWs and Audi's visit that place. But it's a really beautiful piece of art and I think it was built because of the nostalgia. I think at that point of time we felt that there will not be any double deckers in the future. But here we are where we have nearly 100 double deckers or more probably coming back to the streets. Bombay is a city.
People are quite vocal. You have commuter organizations. You have train travelers organizations. Who actually advocate for public transport because end of the day the city is about public transport. It's it's a city that developed along railway tracks. The people here relative to other cities do love, use, fight and do all kinds of things about public transport, which I think in other cities urban planners would be like kind of happy if they had such a big vocal community.
Not that the planners are listening, but at least. These public installations and and things about making old buses part of our life I think would bring at some level this whole thing about public transport debate into the open and not just coastal road and all the car related infrastructure that is being built. Of course you can't ignore the fact that there is a slow decline of investment or in BST. I mean, people are looking for profits where none exists and stuff like that.
So I look at it as a positive development that we are getting buses. I think the problem is that not enough people are using it. So then how do you view this sort of demise of the traditional version of it? I'm happy with the new electric buses. I mean I think it we should change with the times. I think Bombay has this London and we our buildings are like London. We like to think that our cops are like the Scotland Yard and we like our buses to be like
London buses. It'll keep changing. In fact we started with electric trams and then it became diesel. So we are going back to the original electric in, in some ways. So I'm quite happy with just the fact that we have doubled the cars, unlike other cities. But then the electric one, unlike this one, doesn't have that key thing, which is the front seat on top, which is open and is the price seat in the entire bus. But doesn't that sort of take away elements of the double
Decker itself? Because isn't it about literally having the wind in your head? Yeah, it was actually the smell of the city and the breeze and the sea breeze. In the sense you could smell and you could actually feel the elements of the city in that front seat. It was not just about looking out of the window during the monsoon. It's an entire different feeling. I think that is going to be totally lost, that front seat. Luckily the new buses have more
glass on the sides. So the views are there on there's better views on other sites. I'm hopeful that they will compensate for this. And if you look at the BST, like when they introduce those new electric buses, they started those Mumbai darshan buses, there's a hit already if you ask me.
The the electric double Decker with people who are coming and especially the tourists, and I think there will be a whole new generation developing nostalgia or electric buses and 100 years from now some they will be complaining about that. We owe so much of our lives to the BST. That is like the St. in the rural areas it's St. buses, state transport buses. So what is the real lifeline? The. Suburban service is a lifeline, but bus is actually more important I would say.
Vidhya Dardate is a former journalist with The Times of India, an author and the head of a commuter group called Amchi Mumbai Amchi Best, which loosely translates to R Mumbai R Best. He says he is not opposed to the electric bus as such, but admits it does take away something from the experience of riding in a double Decker. It is very anesthetic. If you see them with very dull dark color, it is very
anesthetic. Secondly, when you are sitting on the top deck with A/C, I mean all the fun is lost. That whole breeze you miss, you know that is you are a bit nature when you are having natural breeze. That is the beauty when the A/C completely spoils that. So it is OK in very severe summer. Vidyadar Datti says over the years they have been campaigning to keep the city's bus service efficient and commuter friendly.
The death of the double Decker and the morning over it, he says, shows how attached the city is to its buses. Everybody has a passion for every kind of bus, but the double ticker of course is very special. The amount of nostalgia that I've witnessed in the last few days testifies and it is such a long history.
We are also attached to the train, suburban train, which is very good, but the bus, the kind of intimacy it gives you, you can see the surroundings for great heritage is somehow being undermined from the highest levels. Our authorities say we are modeling on London transport, but they have learned nothing from it. You see Londons red buses. Theyre very proud of them. We must be proud of our bus service. That is not happening. Our authorities have no sense of
pride. And now theyre only going to dump one bus in the museum in Gulala. And all these years that time to have more buses. But now they've just outlived their life. That's not a good thing at all. The city's bus agency, the BST, has been struggling for years now. Earlier this year, the Times of India Summit Sen had reported how the bus service, which was once in the green financially, had losses to the tune of 6000 crore rupees.
Even a ₹60,00,00,000 financial assistance package from the city civic body per month is not proving to be enough. The bus service is now hoping to raise money through subsidies and other revenue generating measures. The health of the BST service presently mirrors the state of many public bus services across the country. Vidya Adar Dhati says that a public bus service shouldn't be
looking to make profits. He says the bigger issue is that the state is unwilling to spend on the public transport service, while it seems to have adequate funds for other infrastructure projects that lack the same utility. It is actually a political thing. It is not a matter of finance and economics. So the main issue, as all the experts are pointed out, it is
political. You have the political bill, then you can do. You see, for the metro, they have borrowed such almost a lack of crores they are going to spend and a few thousand crore they cannot spend on a bus system. Theyre just taking people for a ride. Theyre not telling the truth. The bus has a real flexibility, can take you from any point to any point, whereas the metro can't do that because they have
to keep alive the metro. So they will try to divert passengers from the bus to the metro, which will be disastrous. First of all, I mean it is much more costly and you see it is not at all flexible. Over the past decade, the BESD has been leasing buses from bus makers and most of its over 3000 bus fleet is leased. This means the buses aren't owned or maintained by the BESD. The drivers of the buses also are not employees of the bus service.
In August, a majority of these drivers truck work seeking more pay and other employee benefits. It brought the city's bus network to a halt till the state promised to meet their demands. Vidyadhar date says globally the move has been to make public transport more affordable and accessible, while India and the administrators of the BESD seem intent on moving in the opposite direction. He says the promise of the contract buses has also proven to be a hollow one so far.
Everywhere, bus travel has to be subsidized, can never make a profit. I mean, it's so obvious and so many countries have started. Even free bus service, we are continuing the model of America of motorization and building more flyovers and highways and expressways, so they've got enough money for the postal road and not for the BST. I think there is no explanation at all. This contact system is also playing and because it is imposed from above, they know it is not working well and it has
proved a miserable failure. They said it will get more efficiency, whereas it has miserably failed. Vidyadardate says that the phasing out of the double Decker should put the spotlight on the health of the BST and on improving it. He hopes that the upcoming metro network will solve some of the city's problems. But till then, he fears the average bus commuter in Mumbai won't be having a very smooth journey.
The. Main feature is now observed Bible. For common people and because they are full living is in jeopardy. I see people standing for long time waiting for work. That is the real crisis. You see this in Australia. It is good for us, you know the only experience. I think that it's a very momentous time phasing out of the double Decker. The real problem is. The way they are neglecting the BSD and the people deserve much more fair treatment. Common people are being treated
with absolute contempt. They are not a ton or sincere about the bus system. They are favoring the metro. Maybe after some decades Metro will pick up, but till then we will be in a crisis. Today's episode was produced by Jayaraj Singh and Anuja Singh. For a daily spotlight on people, ideas and stories that matter, subscribe to us. We're available on TOI, Spotify, Apple, Google Podcasts, and all other platforms of your choice. For any news tips, e-mail us at TOI Podcast at Timesinternet in.