MCD to launch special buses with continental restaurants

Double delight for games tourists

Listen to this article

Double delight for games tourists

00:00

MCD to launch special buses with continental restaurants

Commonwealth tourists will be able to savour delicacies from across the world while negotiating the Delhi traffic and enjoying the scenery around.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has proposed to run five double-decker buses in the Capital, exclusively for the tourists coming to watch the Games in October.

Legend has it:u00a0A modern double-decker sighseeing tour service
representative photos

The five buses will have an open top and a restaurant on the lower deck in which different cuisines will be offered to the international tourists. Each bus will have a separate menu, ranging from continental to ethnic Indian. Officials told MiD DAY that the route for the buses will be designed like a heritage walk, involving a visit to the prominent historical monuments in the city.

"The five buses represent the five continents. Every bus will serve food belonging to one particular continent and decorated with popular culture of that particular continent. However, Indian food will be common to all the buses," said an official associated to the proposal.

"Two by two seating arrangements will be made on the buses with a table. All seats will be fitted with a language-interpreting headphone for a running commentary about the facilities and the landmarks. Television screens and audio video aids will also be installed on the buses to inform people about the history and food of the city as well as handlooms and handicrafts," the official said.u00a0 On board the bus, the tourists will also be able to book national and international flight or train tickets.u00a0

u00a0"The ambitious project will be implemented on a BOT (build operate and transfer) basis and RFP (Request for Proposal) will be called soon," said the official.
However, ticket-prices are yet to be calculated. "We are in touch with experts and international chefs to calculate the cost and finalise menus of different continents," he added.

The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) currently runs a bus service named 'Delhi Darshan' for tourists in the city. "This service has limited scope. The bus service we are launching will be of international standards. We will also take up the proposal with DTC and tourism department," the official said.u00a0

The London experience

A common sight in central London are tour buses, the majority being open-top. These are double-decker buses with a fully or partially open upper deck, which provide tourist services with either live or recorded commentary. Most of these services allow passengers to embark and disembark at any of the company's stops, continuing their journey on a later bus.
There are several competing operators of such services which do not form part of the London Buses network and do not issue or accept London Buses tickets, although at least one paints its buses in the same red as London's local buses. Fares are set by the operators, usually a flat fee for a day's (or multiple days') usage; there is no need to pre-book and tickets can be bought from the driver or bus-stop ticket sellers.
Other more formally organised tours use luxury coaches and generally need to be booked in advance through travel agents.
The London Bus is one of London's principal icons, the archetypal red rear-entrance double-deck Routemaster being recognised worldwide. Although the Routemaster has now been largely phased out of service, with only two heritage routes still using the vehicles, the majority of buses in London are still red and therefore the red bus remains an iconic symbol of the city.
Although the rear-entrance double-deck Routemaster has now been withdrawn from all regular service routes, they are still in use on two heritage routes in central London. The two routes are heritage route 9 from the Royal Albert Hall to Aldwych, and heritage route 15 from Trafalgar Square to Tower Hill.u00a0