Journey from London to Calcutta: Black and white photo of 1957 bus service makes netizens curious – Times Now

A black and white photo doing rounds on social media shows passengers at Victoria Coach Station, London boarding a bus that would take them to Calcutta. Yes, a journey from Calcutta (present-day Kolkata) to London on a bus. That was back in the 1950s.

“Literally just finding out about the London-Calcutta bus service which apparently existed well into the 70’s. Wow,” the viral tweet is captioned. In of the photos, the passengers can be seen boarding the first run of the bus in April 1957.

The route taken by the Albert Travel bus was – England, Belgium, West Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, West Pakistan and India. In India, the bus travelled from New Delhi to Agra, Allahabad, Banaras and finally, Calcutta.

Along with the photo of the bus, a brochure of the bus’ itinerary has surfaced. The luxurious bus provided the facilities of reading, individual sleeping bunks, radio/taped music for parties and pleasure and fan heaters, among other things. The brochure reads, “Your complete home while you travel.”

Some of the tour highlights included Banaras on the Ganges, The Taj Mahal, The Raj Path The Rhine Valley and The Peacock Throne.

Passengers got free shopping days in New Delhi, Tehran, Salzburg, Kabul, Istanbul and Vienna.

One side travel from London to India cost 85 pound sterlings (Rs 8,019 in present-day). The ticket was inclusive of food, travel and accommodation.

The bus had its first run on April 15, 1957 and it reached Calcutta on June 5.

The viral tweet made netizens excited and curious to know more about the adventures of the passengers.

One user said, “What a find! And the route is fascinating. I want to know what they served in the dining car.” Another wrote, “Oh for a world of no visas where you could just pay the fee and get on a bus or a train. Can we get that back please?”