‘Should have saved at least one of first buses’

The blue and silver-topped Bedford buses had wooden bodies and coir seats

Impressed by the glorious exhibition on the 75-year-old history of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday asked managers of the MSRTC about the Bedford buses - the first to be pressed into service. "We should have saved at least one of the buses for today's generation, because old is always gold," he said.

The first blue and silver-topped Bedford bus had plied from Pune to Ahmednagar, with passengers charged Rs 0.9 (9 paise) as fare. At the time, the state transport bus service was started with 30 Bedford buses that had wooden bodies and coir seats. Today, the MSRTC fleet is one of India's largest with around 16,000 buses. The transport body will soon add more than 7,000 buses to its tally, including electric buses.

Speaking on the occasion, Shinde said all bus depots should have good roads and be concreted. "We have requested the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) to allocate Rs 500 crore to MSRTC in two phases, which will be used for this," he said. Shinde congratulated MSRTC officials, employees and passengers on the occasion, expressing confidence that the transport body will continue to provide good service to people.

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MSRTC fleet size when it commenced operations