Passengers at Victoria Coach Station, London, boarding the first run of the world’s longest coach route, between London and Calcutta, 15th April 1957. The journey to Calcutta takes five days and the single fare is 85 pounds. Passengers include two ex-firemen emigrating to Australia, as well as Indians and Australians returning home. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
A recent viral image shows passengers at the Victoria Coach Station, London, boarding the ‘Albert’ apparently right before its first run between London and Kolkata. The journey to Calcutta took five days and the single fare was 85 pounds (Rs 8000).
- News18.com
- Last Updated: July 2, 2020, 10:15 AM IST
Share this:
Did you know, the late 1950s offered people a lavish bus trip from London to Kolkata and London to Australia making it world’s first longest bus route!
A recent viral image shows passengers at the Victoria Coach Station, London, boarding ‘Albert’, apparently right before its first run between London and Kolkata.
The journey to Kolkata (formerly called Calcutta) took five days and the single fare was 85 pounds (Rs 8000), pretty expensive back then!
An image of the bus ticket is also making rounds on social media, that shows the route of the bus — London, Belgium, West Germany, Austria,Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, West Pakistan, India.
Literally just finding out about the London-Calcutta bus service which apparently existed well into the 70’s. Wow. 😳😳 pic.twitter.com/VZAHtkbwzD
— Rohit K Dasgupta (@RKDasgupta) June 29, 2020
The route in India followed Delhi, Agra, Allahabad, Banaras and finally Calcutta.
The ticket shows that a one side travel cost 145 pounds (13,644 Rupees at the present day) back then, and it was inclusive of all the luxury provided during the run.
Among the varieties of richness one could enjoy, few to mention would be, a lounge, sleeping bunks, fan heaters, carpeted floor, radio etc. It also displayed: “Your complete home while you travel”.
An image from the Shutterstock archive also shows the coach of 20 British people stopping for a picnic by a river in Yugoslavia during a 1957 London To Calcutta bus trip.
Albert has been reported to have made 15 such luxury trips between London and UK.
Source: https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/a-bus-ride-from-london-to-kolkata-in-1950s-yes-the-viral-photo-is-real-2696673.html
