Down memory lane: When Delhiites rode double-decker buses

"There used to be a single line to get into a bus, and women and elderly travellers were treated with utmost respect," says 71-year-old South Delhi Mayor Subhash Arya with much nostalgia.
With the road-rationing experiment set to begin tomorrow, the veteran politician takes a trip down memory lane and recalls the days when MCD used to run double-decker buses in Delhi.
"The transport department used to be under the MCD, and besides regular buses, there used to be 'Suvidha' services, which were double-decker buses, and quite popular among people. I have fond memories of travelling in them," Arya told PTI.

The buses, with a separate cabin for the driver in the front used to attract as much eyeballs as the appreciation they drew for prompt service.
"We are talking of encouraging use of public transport, but people in 60s to 80s, used them only. And, they quite enjoyed travelling in them. It is only when cars became accessible and affordable to people that the charm of buses and trams began to fade," he said.
Born in Jhelum in Pakistan, Arya came to Delhi as a refugee and grew up travelling in buses and trams, which he says, lost their appeal due to "burgeoning population".

"But, I can tell you one thing about those era, people displayed utmost discipline and courtesy in public. While boarding buses, they stood single file and inside buses, women, elderly and physically-challenged people were treated very courteously.

"Today, people have to be told in buses and metros to vacate seats, designated for women or others. Some don't even listen despite being pointed out, and sit shamelessly," he rued.
The erstwhile unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) ran its bus services under Delhi Transport Undertaking (DTU), which in 1971 became the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC). DTC, was a few decades ago, taken over by the Delhi government. MCD was trifurcated in 2012 into North, South and East Corporations.

Trams, which today have become a piece of nostalgia in forms of postcards and old pictures, were once a lifeline of the city, especially the Walled City, besides the tongas, which exercised good appeal among the masses.
Director (Press & Information) of the North Delhi
Municipal Corporation (NDMC), Yogendra Singh Mann, an old resident of the city, who has served the MCD for several decades, also has fond memories of riding those double-decker buses.
"People today cannot imagine that the Old Delhi's Chandani Chowk had these 'Suvidha' buses plying there. But, those were good old days, the population was little, pollution was much less and people displayed much greater courtesy in public," he said.

MCD, also gives licence to run tongas, rickshaws, both of which have been quite restricted to certain areas, mostly the Old Delhi in the last few decades.
"Till the Maruti arrived in 1984, we had mostly Ambassadors and Fiats in the street, with a few imported cars, owned primarily by the rich. And, trams, rickshaws and tongs provided a major backbone for the masses," Mann said, adding, "till 2014 we had about 99,000 rickshaws."
The AAP government in its bid to curb pollution has decided to bring in an odd-even scheme for plying of private vehicles in the streets, and has also encouraged citizens to take up public transport during this experimental phase that will last till January 15.

DTC has a fleet of 4,600 buses, run in red and green low-floor besides the old standard-floor version, while Delhi Transit, a public-private venture operates another 1,400 buses. Delhi government has decided to press another 3,000 buses, taken from private companies and schools.
Mann says that "the DTC buses ran on the Ring Road, and had colour-codes, and it was only after the floods here in the late 1970s that the Outer Ring Road was built, which further sought to decongest the city of its growing traffic volume."
The senior NDMC official, while welcoming the new step, also suggested that "encroachment should also have been removed side by side, and the right of way has to be cleared."

"And, as far as the new scheme is concerned, we will be abiding by the rules during this period, and all our councillors, staff and officials will do the same," he added.
While trams and tongas remained lifelines of Delhi till 1920s, motor transport in the streets started arriving parallely with the building of the new imperial capital, which was christened as 'New Delhi' on this day in 1926.
The capital of British India was shifted from Calcutta (now Kolkata) to Delhi in 1911 at a grand durbar held here where King George V made the announcement.
As population increased in the city, the Maharaja of Gwalior, saw an opportunity and started the Gwalior and Northern India Transport Company (GNIT) in the 1930s. Post- independence the central government decided to take over the services under its control.