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Transport in India in 2014: page 2 - buses (by Dick Gilbert)
Last updated 28 August 2024
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Here is a typical Calcutta Ashok Leyland small bus as seen by me in 2014. It is working a route from Tegharia (in the north east of Calcutta near the airport) via Howrah (the main railway station on the west side of the river Hooghly) to Maidan (in the very heart of the city). It seen here near Belgachia, about half way between Tegharia and Howrah.
As some of you will know, I spent a short holiday in India in October 2006. What a fantastic country! At that time we visited four states - Delhi (DL registrations), Haryana (HR), Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Rajasthan (RJ). On my return I created three pages illustrating the transport delights that I saw.
Then, in 2014, I went back again, but this time to West Bengal (WB registrations), starting from Kolkata (Calcutta) and travelling about 250 miles north up into the real rural India, close to the Bangladeshi border and following the Hooghly River, a branch of the mighty Ganges. It was a fabulous trip with lots of new things to see, and I've divided my pictures into five sections, as per the above list:
Although almost exclusively Ashok-Leyland or Tata, Bengal buses have a character all of their own. We will start by looking at the buses in the huge and chaotic city of Calcutta. The municipal buses are divided into minibuses (painted in maroon and yellow) or the larger buses (in blue and yellow). This page will look at a selection of Bengal buses in the order that we saw them.
This is a Calcutta Tata minibus in Queens Way outside the magnificent Victoria Memorial in the centre of the city. That one-piece flat windscreen is typical of Calcutta minibuses, and not something I'd seen anywhere else.
This Ashok Leyland is one of the larger minibuses. As can be seen from the top of the windscreen, it is operating RTS (Rapid Transit System) route 167 from the Cinemax entertainment centre in Mani Square, Salt Lake across town to B. B. D. Bagh (formerly known as Dalhousie Square), over the river from Howrah railway station. To explain the name B. B. D. Bagh, let me just say that Dalhousie Square is an old British name, and B. B. D. Bagh is post-independence.
This Tata minibus is on route 113 from Harinavi, way down in the south of the city, to Howrah railway station on the west side of the river. It is seen here near the Howrah bridge. There's another of those flat-screen Tatas behind it.
Here we see one of the bigger Calcutta buses, all of which are painted in blue and yellow. A Tata, it is seen resting at one end of route 237 outside the Eden stadium (home of cricket in Calcutta) near the east bank of the Hooghly river, and will run up north to Birati, near the airport.
This is another Tata, seen negotiating the big roundabout in Queens Way outside the Victoria Memorial. Route 30C runs from Esplanade (which it has just left) to Baguiati, way up north beyond the airport.
This Ashok Leyland is on Howrah bridge over the river Hooghly, of which the residents of Calcutta are very proud. It has just left the start of its route L238 (Howrah railway station) and will proceed way up to Barasat in the far north east of the city.
This Ashok Leyland is something different, because it is operated by the south Bengal state transport corporation (SBSTC). Based in Durgapur, SBSTC operates from there and Calcutta to various destinations in south and west Bengal. In the background are the tops of towers at the splendid Howrah railway station, of which more later.
Now we have moved way up north to Farakka by train, and then onwards by road to the town of Malda, previously known as English Bazaar. This is near the Bangladeshi border, and a busy road. English is not commonly used in this area, so there are few identity clues on the bus - in fact I'm not even sure of the nationality of registration WGD 2037. The name Radha Rani refers to a goddess. Any clues anyone?
We now move to Chinsurah, about two-thirds the way back to Calcutta, and this pink thing is an anonymous Tata.
Just down the road was this colourful Ashok Leyland.
Outside the town's bus station was this Tata minibus, with another of those one-piece rectangular windscreens.
Just behind was a Mahindra Tourister needing a wheelchange. Its CRDe engine has a mere 2.6 litres.
Finally a little Tata minibus pulls out of the Chinsurah bus station into the crazy traffic on local route 2. I do believe that's the same windscreen again...
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