double decker bus
– Photo: Amar Ujala
Expansion
Currently, the plan to introduce double decker buses on the roads of Delhi is in limbo. There are many difficulties in the way of uninterrupted movement of buses due to high height and obstructions of footover bridge, underpass, hence the hope of plying of double decker buses has remained negligible.
A few months back, the Transport Department had prepared a proposal to ply 25 buses on the Ring Road. A study was also done to find out the possibilities of operating these buses. The decision was taken in view of the outcome of a study conducted to ascertain the feasibility of operating 25 double-decker buses ahead of the G-20 summit.
Over the years many flyovers, underpasses and foot overbridges have been built on the roads in Delhi. This has increased the convenience in the movement of vehicles, but is now creating hurdles in the way of double deckers. An official said that the result of the study revealed some bottlenecks in the way of operation of double-decker buses.
It is not possible to remove them at the moment. Apart from footover bridges, flyovers and underpasses, there was a possibility of obstruction in the movement of double-decker buses due to overhead wires at many places. Due to these reasons, the operation of double decker buses again on the roads of Delhi has come to a halt for the time being.
After 32 years, a proposal was made to introduce double decker buses again on the roads of Delhi. With the facility of seating passengers on both the floors of the bus, it was expected that the problems caused by the shortage of buses would be removed. A study was carried out to explore the possibilities for starting the operation of buses. In view of the facts revealed in the study, the proposal could not proceed further. Initially, initiative was taken in the direction of running double decker buses on Ring Road.
Dilemma on resumption of ‘facility service’
In the 70s, double decker buses were run in Delhi under “Suvidha Sewa”. The driver’s cabin was separate from the passenger deck and these buses were known as trailers. There was seating facility for the passengers on both the floors of the bus, but the balance of the bus did not deteriorate, so no passenger was allowed to travel standing on the upper floor. There were separate conductors for both the decks so that the passengers did not have any problem in the journey. This provided convenience to the passengers.
Buses were closed due to high altitude
In 1982, 20 buses used to run on different routes from Srinivaspuri Depot. In these, double decker buses continued to run till the early 90s on Mudrika (Ring Road), Red Fort to Press Enclave and other routes as well. Due to the height of the bridge and footover bridge built on the Ring Road, it was closed, especially considering it not suitable for double decker buses at many places on the Ring Road including Kashmere Gate, Moti Bagh, at present the proposal is not being implemented .