[ruzbehxyz]

BEST has announced that 60% of its double-decker fleet is likely to be scrapped in a year, to be replaced with single-decker buses. The undertaking at present has 120 double-decker buses, only 48 of which will remain.
72 buses will be off the road by December 2020, and remaining 48 by October 2023.

Double-decker buses were introduced in Mumbai in 1937 as horse-drawn vehicles, BEST being the first transport undertaking in the country to have them. The first stage of motorisation was to replace the horses with engines on wheels, the passenger units being trailers. The maximum size of the double-decker fleet was in 1947, at 242.

Commuters and transport experts aren’t happy with BEST’s announcement to curtail its doubledecker fleet. They say doubledeckers have the advantage of carrying more passengers while occupying the same road space as a single-decker bus and suggest that doubledeckers should ply on arterial roads during rush hour.
“If the buses have completed their life spans, BEST should procure new double-deckers. BEST authorities should ensure that these iconic buses are visible on the road,” said Vikas Pednekar, who regularly commutes by bus in south Mumbai.
But BEST says doubledeckers are loss-making. “You need two conductors to run each bus. The operational cost is nearly 1.5 times that of a normal bus. It consumes more fuel. Another problem is that double-decker buses cannot ply on all roads as unlike single-decker buses, they can’t be made to take sharp turns, as doing so is risky because of stability factors,” a BEST official said.

City historian Deepak Rao said the buses have their own charm. “A few decades ago, double-deckers dominated roads in the island city, while single-deckers were primarily operated in the suburbs. This was when the double-decker fleet was well over 200. Sadly, the fleet has been trimmed over the years and only 120 buses remain. BEST should ignore losses and preserve the buses for their heritage value,” he said. Rao recalled how in the past he would take his friends from abroad on a doubledecker from Sassoon Dock, showing them Colaba, Regal, the museum, Fountain, CSMT, Crawford Market and the Metro cinema area. “It was Mumbai darshan for my friends and the upper deck front window seat was a pleasure,” he recounted.
At present, double-deckers ferry passengers on 16 routes, with good ridership on busy routes like CSMT to Nariman Point, Colaba to Worli, and Kurla to Santacruz. One of the most popular routes is CSMT to Backbay depot, which goes through Marine Drive.
Transport activist A V Shenoy from Mumbai Mobility Forum said at least 100 double-deckers should be preserved. “These buses mean nostalgia,” he said. “You just need to modify the design a bit to allow entry/exit from two doors, by introducing another door in the front of the bus. It will ensure faster dispersal of commuters.”.

Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.times...w/72357538.cms

[Hayek]

Quite sad news. Double deckers were part of my childhood - though I must say the buses I used the most then were trailers, which were scrapped a couple of decades ago (or more). We used 6Ltd for our trips from Chembur to VT or even Electric House - to watch English movies in the hep townie theatres like Sterling, Eros or Strand; 351 for shopping trips to Dadar TT and 381 ( a non trailer) for trips to my aunt’s place in Ghatkopar. And later in my college days, trips sitting in the front row of any bus, esp the route that plied down Marine Drive to Tardeo were a real pleasure. Time to catch one last ride in the front row of a double decker before they are scrapped.

[bpnpmr]

Originally Posted by Hayek

Quite sad news. Double deckers were part of my childhood - though I must say the buses I used the most then were trailers, which were scrapped a couple of decades ago (or more). Time to catch one last ride in the front row of a double decker before they are scrapped.

Double decker buses were a part of my School and College life in Bengaluru, they were phased out from the city. Its sad that Mumbai is following the same trend. The first time I visited Mumbai in 2016 I took a ride to have an experience of the past.
If I am luck enough I may visit Mumbai and take a ride in the double decker bus before the last one is off the road.

[vharihar]

I don't buy the loss theory, or the unhandleably high losses due to 2 conductors per bus. There's definitely corruption somewhere that's sinking these double decker icons of Mumbai!

BEST operations has definitely gone downhill ever since Uttam Khobragade took over in early 2000's.

Till late 90's, there were very many double deckers, and they were maintained, top class. And yes, transport division of BEST made losses even then, but they were offset by profits in electricity division. So I'd think the losses weren't that much so as to be deemed unhandle-able (compared to other transport undertakings).

It's a pity if Mumbai loses its heritage symbol.

I for one would rather like to see the corruption issues in BEST fixed, and would then like to see the return/reintroduction of many double deckers in Mumbai.

[V.Narayan]

Mumbai has an awful short supply of road space. a double decker is super efficient at carrying passengers with the lowest foot print of pax/sq.metre of road space. This sounds like a decision whose logic I cannot fathom. The double decker trailers were retired because they were high on maintenance. Okay that one can understand. But the regular double decker??

[navin_v8]

Like many here I too traveled in these BEST double decker buses during my childhood, school and college days, infact I still do whenever I have an opportunity. I am lucky to be staying in Andheri where there are plenty of double deckers which ply from Andheri East Station to SEEPZ, Andheri East Station to Kurla West Station. I was a regular on Route 251 Andheri West Station to Versova double decker which was stopped some years ago. Currently Andheri West has no double decker buses. South Bombay is one of the last few bastions of BEST double deckers due to tourist crowd and heritage.

My favorite place was front seat on the upper deck. I remember as a child climbing the stairs hurriedly and securing the first seat on upper deck much to the chagrin on my parents .

I am really sad and nostalgic about BEST double decker buses being phased out similar to axing of Fiat 1100 aka Premier Padmini black and yellow cab and the disappearing Parsi/Irani cafes/restaurants. IMHO all these along with Western Railway were the icons/face of Bombay. When I reminisce those days I become really emotional and nostalgic. Those were simple times with simple people.

Double decker buses making losses is unimaginable as they are capable of carrying twice the load during peak hours (cannot imagine the long line of people extending till Andheri railway station bridge for SEEPZ route growing even longer if double deckers are axed) thereby aiding in decongestion of roads. They may be slow but speeds on Bombay city roads where they ply seldom hits 50 KMPH on an average.

But as they say "Change is the only constant".

I sincerely hope that sense prevails and BEST introduces double decker electric buses in the future.

[LazyDriver]

BEST decides to buy new double decker buses.

Due to many people calling the BEST helpline and urging the management to save these double decker buses, BEST has approved replacing these double decker buses with new one's. Hence BEST will initially place an order to procure 50 double decker buses to replace the first batch of buses to be phased out.

Link to the full article: https://indianexpress.com/article/ci...ckers-6193980/

[ruzbehxyz]

In continuation from my first post.

15 double deckers, have been scrapped in the lockdown period of past four months, 900 more, including 60 double deckers are lined up for scrap next year.

Read full article here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.mid-d...apped/22940214

[fazayal]

Saw this image in a Facebook group. It's being claimed that it's first double decker BEST bus manufactured by Daimler in 1937. However, Google says Daimler started manufacturing double decker buses only from 1960s.

One can see the logo of "GM India" on top right corner. So it could be manufactured by GM as they had a factory in Mumbai in 1930s.

Can anyone confirm please?

[RM Motorsports]

BEST to get 200 new double-deckers to replace the phased out ones.

Newly-elected BE-ST committee chairman Ashish Chemburkar said the city will soon get 200 double-decker buses, including 100 whose tenders have already been floated. “The double-decker bus has always been iconic for Mumbai and a pride of the city for several years. Its fleet size has shrunk to 51. I will ensure it goes up four-fold,” he said on assuming charge

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/81940488.cms

[RM Motorsports]

Once upon a time in 1960s. Double Decker along Marine Drive.

[ruzbehxyz]

In February-March 2021, the number of double decker buses has been reduced to 51 from 120, which will further drop to 41 as 10 other buses will be phased out soon.

According to a BEST official, “Some of the 10 buses will be sent for scrap, while others may be given away for tourism purposes,” was quoted as saying TOI. The official also added that the plan was to get 100 new buses with the latest BS-6 diesel engines and automatic transmission for ease of driving.
The report also suggests that the new double-decker buses will have two doors and two staircases for passengers' safety.

Source: https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/www.t...es-soon/739342

[vigsom]

Double Decker (DD) buses are the A380s of public transport; and for a metro city, this model will help accommodate more passengers per sq.m. It is good to see that more DDs will be seen in Mumbai.

I've travelled countless times by route 66 on Sion-VT (now CST) and Sion-Mumbai Central in the 90s. The only minus in DDs is their rather poor acceleration, which actually doesn't matter in slow traffic.

I wonder why EMUs (local trains) in Mumbai aren't being converted to double deckers with lesser seats and more standing space. At least those carriages that don't have pantographs can definitely get converted.The doorway in double deckers in passenger trains like Flying Ranee is as wide as the doors in EMUs, so these won't pose a restriction to entry and exit of users. To allow faster entry and exit of passengers, one additional entry/exit point can be provided in the center of the coach too.

I'm not sure if height restrictions are there on the Harbour line but this model is definitely doable on Western and Central.

Sample image of door width in a non-AC double Decker coach

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by vigsom

I wonder why EMUs (local trains) in Mumbai aren't being converted to double deckers with lesser seats and more standing space. At least those carriages that don't have pantographs can definitely get converted.The doorway in double deckers in passenger trains like Flying Ranee is as wide as the doors in EMUs, so these won't pose a restriction to entry and exit of users. To allow faster entry and exit of passengers, one additional entry/exit point can be provided in the center of the coach too.

That is a very good point you mentioned. However there are various technical reasons for the same.
A normal EMU or local train is 'wider' than a express or DMU train. So making it double decker will increase the weight and shift the centre of gravity.
A typical example was that WR took many years to start locals upto Dahanu, mainly because they had to modify the stations and electric traction sub-stations.

Weight is also an important factor. Earlier locals were made of hard grade aluminum to reduce the weight and improve acceleration. The early locals running on DC ran for about 91 years then all locals were shifted to AC current.

You will be surprised to know that ground clearance is the biggest factor for the Mumbai locals, mainly because of flooding in the monsoons. And double decker coaches are lower from the ground and higher also.
760 mm. from the ground s the specifications set by MRVC.
760 mm. was decided considering the average flooding that occurs in the city. Having equipment in the underslung exposes the components to damage due to water logging. In conventional EMU rakes, these components are on board. Once these components get damaged, there is no option but to replace them, which can’t be done locally.
In the event a rake with underslung equipment is damaged, the rake will have to be pulled out of service for weeks, which severely affects the system.
The AC locals do not meet this criteria but were given approval.

In 2007, the Siemens rake was introduced which was made of stainless steel but light and good power with improved suspension and braking.

In 2014, Bombardier rakes were introduced. Now we have made in India rakes made by ICF, Chennai.

All in all there are various reasons for not having double decker locals. I am not a railway engineer but I am sure there are more technical reasons.

[ruzbehxyz]

Mumbai: Fans manage to snatch one iconic double-decker from scrap heap

One of Mumbai's iconic non-AC double-deckers will be saved for posterity at the Anik bus depot. Thanks to the preservation efforts of the city's bus fans, and the intervention of the chief minister's office, the BEST has promised to spare one such bus from the scrap dealer. Several appeals had been made to the BEST administration and politicians to save vintage buses for future generations. mid-day had highlighted how a businessman from Dahisar is willing to purchase one double-decker for his collection, come what may.

"The trams are gone, trailer double-deckers are gone and now 20-plus non-AC double-decker buses are remaining, but they will all be scrapped in a month. The iconic buses will now be replaced by the AC double-decker fleet," said Shubham Bharat Padave, an IT professional, who had appealed to the BEST administration and the state's political leaders to save the bus.

"In response to my earnest request, I received an email from the chief minister's office that the request was forwarded to the urban development department to which the BEST responded, stating that the administration is considering preserving a double-decker bus lined up for scrap at the Anik transport museum," Padave said. Besides this, Kalyan MP and the chief minister's son Dr Shrikant Shinde has also promised to take up the matter, he said. Rupak Dhakate, a bus enthusiast from Malwani, kick-started the initiative to ensure one kind of BEST bus is preserved in the undertaking's museum, in 2020.

"Earlier, I had written to BEST's general manager about the preservation of at least one type of bus for future generations but didn't receive a positive response. However, this time, Shubham went one step ahead and wrote to the CM and received a positive response. It's a small win yet and I hope it turns into reality. The double-decker is not just a bus, it's an emotion. The feeling of sitting in top-deck front seats is slowly getting lost because the next-generation buses are going to be AC ones only," said Dhakate, an HR professional, said.

Another bus fan, Gandharva Purohit, said, "Just like transport museums in the United Kingdom, the BEST can organise open-day events where souvenirs can be sold and this will attract more people to the BEST museum, generating revenue for the undertaking." Padave said, "The entire fleet of non-AC double-deckers were customised by BEST engineers and all variants were identical for generations. Front-face arc, dropping windows, direction arrow, partially-opening front windshield, scrolling destination blinds and cushion seats are some of the features that are disappearing in modern transport. In order to pass on the legacy of BEST undertaking to the next generations we must at least preserve one bus from the fleet," Padave said.

The old double-decker bus
The look of double-deckers is based on the old London Routemaster bus design. Introduced in Bombay in 1937 to cope with the growing number of passengers, the sheer size and look of the vehicle ensured they were a success from day one. The Routemaster design developed in England between 1947 and 1956 has been synonymous with an independent driver's cabin, integral body design and a rear-entry platform.

Source: Mid-day.
Link: https://www.mid-day.com/amp/mumbai/m...-heap-23295633