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Transport in India in 2006: page 3 - buses (by Dick Gilbert)

Last updated 28 August 2024

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This is page three of my photographic essay about transport in India in 2006, and it looks at the variety of buses seen in the various states and cities we visited. Follow the links above for the other Indian transport sections:

As was the case with the trucks, it seems that virtually all full-sized buses and coaches in India these days are either made by Tata or Ashok Leyland. Smaller buses could be built by minor companies such as Eicher, but I saw no imported passenger vehicles at all. I believe there are (or were) some spectacular older double deckers in Bombay, but we didn't go there, so I cannot confirm this.

Starting at what I think was the luxury end of the market, this was the coach that transported us for most of our journey around northern India. We also travelled by train, jeep, cycle-rickshaw, tuk-tuk, taxi and elephant at various times, but this was our regular transport.

Wearing a Rajasthani state plate, and seen parked up near Jaipur, our coach was probably a Tata LPO 1616, although I was unable to establish that for sure. The bodywork is by HNS (Hari Narayan Sharma) based in Jaipur, and looks very stylish. Here's an interior shot:

Note the partition between the passengers and the business end, with a beautifully made, part glass-panelled/part laminated wood door separating the two. Since India still has right-hand drive, the driver sits on the right, and the assistant on the left, awaiting his duties for helping decrepit passengers in and out, and providing them with an endless supply of bottled water. Below is a typical Tata Delhi city bus.

The Delhi Transport Corporation is responsible for most of the stage carriage services within the city, and this is the standard livery. In most cases the signwriting is in local script (Sanskrit) on the nearside, and English on the offside. The inscription will inform you that the bus is propelled by clean fuel, and that this is the world's largest eco-friendly CNG bus system (CNG = compressed natural gas, by the way). That's just as well, because the atmosphere in Delhi was becoming quite intolerable a few years ago, due to exhaust pollution, but a recent demand that all public transport vehicles (including taxis and tuk-tuks) now run on clean fuel has cleared the air remarkably in a very short space of time. A lesson for other cities around the world!

Here's another one, heading towards Delhi city centre on route 507, with additional cooling technology.

And this is an Ashok Leyland on route 512, with a definite list to starboard. It says school bus by the front door, but it clearly wasn't on this occasion.

Parked in a Delhi tourist site car park was this rather neat Tata 1312 (a model now out of production), apparently belonging to Sammi Inter State, and is another vehicle powered by CNG (compressed natural gas). Presumably it hadn't come far, as it has a Delhi registration plate.

Moving on to Jaipur, here are some local Tata minibuses at a bus terminus alongside the distinctive pink city wall.

This is a larger city bus in Jaipur, an Ashok Leyland with the standard style of bus bodywork used in the town.

Passing other vehicles can be a challenge at times. Here our coach has to drive up a bank to allow room for a Tata inter-city bus to get past, in a village between Pushkar and Kuchaman in Rajasthan. Note that, having achieved this, we will then have to pass a bullock cart on the wrong side of the road.

Seen in Kuchaman is this Ashok Leyland, proudly wearing the old Leyland circular badge on its radiator grille. The operator is the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation. Established in 1964 and based in Jaipur, RSRTC is the largest provider of intercity buses in Rajasthan.

Old city buses never die, they become school buses. This retired Tata has been donated to the largest school in Kuchaman. Windows are always opened in the high temperatures, so bars prevent students falling out in the crush.

At the same school, here is a mixed bunch of old city and tourist buses used for student transport. Some have not yet been repainted into the yellow livery normally used for school transport.

Speeding south on the road from Ajmer to Kuchaman is another RSRTC intercity Ashok Leyland.

Finally, here is yet another RSRTC Ashok Leyland making a typically Indian high-risk overtaking manoeuvre at speed, among a gaggle of trucks near Ajmer.

I hope you have enjoyed this little trip through India as much as I did. It is a country of contrasts, colour, action, excitement, amazing scenes and friendly people. The traffic is horrendous, but we didn't see a single collision or major accident, and the constant tooting of horns is all done in a good spirit, with grins all round. Thanks for viewing these pages and, if you ever get the chance to go to India, don't hesitate. It's fabulous.

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