This Puja, revellers can board iconic double decker bus in Kolkata

KOLKATA: Kolkata's new attraction in Durga Puja this year will be travelling in a double decker bus.

The revellers can book ticket online on the website of state Tourism department seven days before the Puja.

There will be a conducted tour, where the passengers will be taken to visit some important places in the city like the Victoria Memorial Hall, Eden Gardens, Band Stand, Metcalfe Hall, Millennium Park among other places.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during her visit to London expressed her desire to reintroduce double decker in Kolkata. Accordingly, double decker buses were brought to the city in April 2020. Unlike its predecessors, the new buses are having open top.

Double decker buses were an integral part of Kolkata's life till end 1980s. People still fondly remember travelling on the first floor of a double- decker.

Double deckers used to ply on 10 routes in the city. They were 5, 6, 8B, 33, 11, 9, 2 and 2B, L 9 and L20. L9 and L 20 were trailor buses.

The buses, manufactured by Leyland had to be imported from England.

The city roads became congested from the mid 1980s and the drivers found it difficult to maneuver the buses.

The traffic experts also told the Left Front government that it was no longer viable to run the double deckers. The buses were withdrawn in phases. The buses were introduced in Kolkata during the early 1930s.