Throwback To 1968, When 'Albert' The Bus Made Trips Between London & Kolkata On 'The World's Longest Bus Route'

In the late '60s, a double-decker bus nicknamed 'Albert' made 15 trips between India and UK and about four trips between London and Sydney, claim several sources.

A picture of passengers at the Victoria Coach Station, London, boarding the bus apparently right before its first run on the world's longest coach route--between London and Kolkata--is now going viral online.

The single fare between Kolkata and London was 85 pounds (Rs 7,889) which is pretty expensive given the year the bus service began.

highroadforoz

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According to Central Western Daily, after a loyal service of 21 years and an accident that left it unsuitable for public use, a British traveller named Andy Stewart who was looking to make his way home to London bought it in May 1968. Stewart converted it into a mobile home and set off with 13 others on a 16,000-kilometre journey from Sydney to London via India in October the same year.

High Road For Oz claims 'Albert's' first journey started from the GPO (general post office) in Martin Place, Sydney, on Tuesday, October 8, 1968, after which it arrived in London, 132 days later, on Monday, February 17, 1969. The website terms it 'an epic adventure.'

Literally just finding out about the London-Calcutta bus service which apparently existed well into the 70¡¯s. Wow. ?? pic.twitter.com/VZAHtkbwzD

¡ª Rohit K Dasgupta (@RKDasgupta) June 29, 2020

Things turned out to pretty awesome for Albert the bus considering it went on to complete 14 more Sydney-to-London trips until 1976.

According to reports, 'a year-round timetable' was drawn up for a regular service between London, Kolkata and Sydney in what was called Albert Tours. High Road For Oz goes on to say that all the trips numbered 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, ran right through to Sydney. The trips numbered 12, 13, 14 and 15 operated between London and Kolkata. On arrival in India, the bus made stops in Delhi, Agra, Banaras and Kolkata.

Going by the schedule shown above, a July 25, 1972 departure from London got passengers to Kolkata by September 11, 1972. That made it a journey of 49 days at the time. Quite the adventure, indeed.

Twitter/@RKDasgupta

The bus also had some extra ¡®luxury services' like a reading and dining room at the lower deck, individual sleeping bunks, fan heaters to keep passengers warm and aesthetic interiors to make the bus feel nothing less than home while on the long journey.

The bus made more than 150 border crossings without ever being held up for 'serious scrutiny or bribery at the state borders.' and earned the tag of being a 'friendly ambassador' to all countries it visited along the way,

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