Double-decker bus

A double decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. Double deckers are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia, the most famous is the London bus.

Early double-deckers put the driver in a separate cab. Passenger access was via an open platform at the rear, and a bus conductor would collect fares. Modern double-deckers have a main entrance door at the front, and the driver takes fares, thus halving the number of bus workers aboard, but slowing the boarding process. The rear open platform, popular with passengers, was abandoned for safety reasons, as there was a risk of passengers falling when running and jumping onto the bus.

Double-deckers are primarily for commuter transport but open-top models are used as sight-seeing buses for tourists. William Gladstone, speaking of London's double-deck horse drawn omnibuses, once observed that "...the best way to see London is from the top of a bus".

United Kingdom and Singapore
Double decker buses are in common use throughout the United Kingdom and Singapore and have been favoured over articulated buses because of the shorter length of double decker bus and larger amount of seating capacity, they may also be safer to operate through the narrow streets and tight corners in Singapore and Britain. The majority of the double deckers are between 10.0 metres and 12.0 metres in length. Double decker coaches are 12.0 metres in length. The maximum permissible length of a rigid single decker bus and coach is 15.0 metres, however the maximum for bendy bus is 19.0 metres, and the height maximum is 4.5 metres.

If the vehicle is larger than these dimensions, the following parties must be informed within 48 hours notice:


 * All police forces
 * All local highway authorities
 * Land Transport Authority or Department for Transport

Transport for London has continued to keep these vintage Routemasters on 15H, there was formerly a second heritage route (9H) but this ceased operation in 2014 due to low patronage and increased operating costs.

In 2007, a hybrid-powered double-decker entered service on London Buses route 141. By late 2008, more hybrid double-deckers from three manufacturers entered service in Singapore. A New Routemaster was developed that year, and entered service in 20 February 2012, in time for 2012 Summer Olympics. In October 2015, Singapore had added five all-electric double decker buses - from BYD.

Isle of Man
Bus Vannin operate double deckers on routes all across the island.

Republic of Ireland and Timothy North
In the Republic of Ireland, nearly all of buses operated in and around Greater Dublin by Dublin Bus are double-deckers. There are 936 double-decker buses (second after London) in the company's fleet of 942. Bus Timothy has 50% of the double decker buses.

The Bus Éireann company also utilises double-decker buses on some of its commuter routes, such as the Dublin to Dundalk service.

Denmark
Since 1970, various operators in Copenhagen had used double deckers - originally Leyland, then in 1980-90s - MAN and then in 2000s - Volvo B7.

France
The first double-decker bus was invented in Paris in 1853; it was a horse-drawn omnibus. The upper floor was cheaper and often uncovered.

The first double-decker motor bus in Paris, the Schneider Brillié P2, appeared in 1906. It was designed to carry more passengers and to replace the horse-drawn double-decker omnibus. Like trams and omnibuses, double-decker motor buses included two classes of travel: first class inside the car and second class outdoors on top. But this type of vehicle was withdrawn in 1911 because one of them overturned at place de l'Étoile; following this incident the P2s lost their upper deck and were renamed as P3s.

It wss not until 1966 that the RATP retried double-deckers on two lines in Paris. A prototype built by Berliet (type E-PCMR), was put into service in 1966, with an order being placed for 25 vehicles. The first production car was commissioned on 19 June 1968 on line 94, Gare Montparnasse - Levallois. On 17 February 1969, line 53, Opera - Porte d'Asnieres was in turn equipped with this model. But traffic problems caused RATP to definitively abandon this vehicle in 1977, because this type of bus is poorly suited to the structure of the Paris network, the stops being too close to each other which prevented people from going upstairs. Hence, there are no Parisian mass transit lines using double-decker buses.

Russia
Some of the double decker buses from Germany had went to Russia, which planned to include Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Spain
Double decker buses were introduced in 2014 at Billbao. They are not the first double deck vehicles in the city as ex-London Transport Q1 trolleybuses were sold to Bilbao after the end of London trolleybus operations in 1962 and were operated until the system's closure in 1978.

Bangladesh
The Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation operates a fleet of Ashok Leyland and Volvo B10M/Alexander buses on the streets of Dhaka and Chittagong.

Hong Kong
The former British colony of Hong Kong introduced its double decker buses in 1949 by Kowloon Motor Bus. They have been popular since then and they are found in large numbers among the fleets of Citybus, New World First Bus and Kowloon Motor Bus. By law, double deckers are limited to 12.8 metres.

India
In India, Hyderabad and Bangalore had double deckers for a while before discontinuing. Madras's Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) has a small fleet of double-decker buses, mostly in the high-density, longer distance routes. Mumbai has operated double-decker buses since 1937. They are operated by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport undertaking.

Kerala State Road Transport Corporation is operating double deckers in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi cities. Kolkata and Hyderabad also have double-decker buses. Volvo B9TLs began service in 2010. Recently in Kolkata, CSTC reintroduced double decker bus with music system on selected routes where wide road space was available, i.e. no over-head cables, low bridges or flyovers. CSTC has spent 1 million INR to renovate 1 bus. Today, double deckers exist only in Mumbai, Vadodara, Kolkata, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.

Indonesia
Indonesia first operated the double decker in 1968, with Leyland Titan bus first operated in Jakarta. The double decker bus service linked Salemba in Central Jakarta with Blok M in South Jakarta from 1968 to 1982. Between 1984 and 1996, the Jakarta municipal bus service, Perusahaan Umum Pengangkutan Penumpang Djakarta (Perum PPD) operated a fleet of 180 Volvo B55 double-decker buses, connecting various corners in the city.

The double-decker bus service ceased to operate in 1996 due to aging fleet, lack of spare parts, and there are no plan to renew the double-decker fleet in Jakarta. By that time, the remnant of double decker bus body was sold and repurposed as bus-themed clothing store in Blok M and restaurant at Senayan, but now this establishment has been demolished.

By early 2000s, the PPD had shifted the fleet from European-fleet double decker buses to cheaper second-hand Japanese buses and imported articulated buses from China. By that time the double-decker bus seems to be lost in favor of articulated buses which provide more exit and entry points for faster embarkment. By 2004, the TransJakarta bus rapid transit service began its service, but they have no double deckers and chosen articulated buses.

Malaysia
Malaysia has historically seen the use of double-decker buses in mass transit to varying degrees, but were significantly limited in use due operational costs and driving spaces needed for such buses. Early double-decker municipal buses primarily existed in Malaya within the Kuala Lumpur area of Selangor and George Town in Penang between the late 1940s and the early 1960s, when double-deckers were eventually withdrawn in favour of more compact single-deck buses.

The earliest recorded use of double-deckers by Malayan bus companies was in Selangor in 1948 when the Toong Fong Omnibus Company acquired two Park Royal-built Guy Arab IIIs at a cost of M$40,000 each; the General Transport Company (GTC) followed by acquiring Park Royal-built AEC Regent IIIs. While the buses saw service for over a decade, all of them were taken out of service for a variety of reasons and were never replaced with new double-deckers; the buses were often obstructed by narrow streets, trees, low bridges, and increasing overhead wires, while passengers eventually favoured staying on the lower deck of the bus; the cost of operating the buses was also higher due to a local vehicle tax calculated based on the number of seats of a taxed vehicle. One Toong Fong double-decker was burned in the late-1950s by communist insurgents, while the remaining double-deckers were ultimately disused by the mid-1960s due to age. The successor of the GTC, Sri Jaya, experimented with a reintroduction of double-deckers in 1989 by leasing a Singapore-assembled, 102-seat Leyland Olympian for use within Kuala Lumpur for 6 months, but found that street conditions were problematic as before and discontinued the use of the bus after the trial.

In George Town, Penang, five retired AEC C1-type double-decker trolleybuses were procured in 1956 by the George Town Municipal Tramways from London Transport as an experiment for the possible use of double-decker buses in George Town. Poor performance results and the advancing ages of the buses, coupled with efforts to replace the entire trolleybus fleet with single-deck diesel-powered buses in the 1960s, led to the withdrawal of the only double-deck buses in early Penangite public transport.

Following increasing public bus ridership, more open roadways and the feasibility of operating double-deck Hop-On Hop-Off tourist buses within Kuala Lumpur, Prasarana Malaysia purchased 40 (revised from an earlier 111) Alexander Dennis Enviro500 double-decker buses in 2014 to serve high volume Rapid KL Rapid Bus routes; with a capacity of 108 passengers each, it is double that of a contemporary single-deck bus in the fleet. The first five buses of the batch entered service in September 2015; with the rest of the fleet gradually added into service in the following months. Feasibility studies are also being conducted by Prasarana Malaysia on the reintroduction of double-deckers in Penang through Rapid Penang's bus service.

Beyond mass transit, double-deckers have already seen wide use as long-distance coaches since the late-2000s in response to growing demand for intercity travel.

South Korea
In 2015, a fleet of 20 double decker buses was introduced for commuters making the journey between Seoul and Gyeonggi province as a pilot project. These include Alexander Dennis Enviro500, MAN CO 26.460 with Unvi Uvibus bodywork.

Sri Lanka
In the 1950s, double-decker buses of the South Western Bus Company plied on the Galle Road in Colombo, Sri Lanka. These were taken over by the Ceylon Transport Board (CTB) when all bus services were nationalised in 1958. Beginning around 1959, large numbers of second-hand double-decker buses of the RT, RTL and RTW classes were imported by the CTB from London Transport, and ran in their original red livery with the oval CTB logo painted on the sides. These buses were phased out beginning in the mid-1970s, and none remain in service. Later, around 1985, 40 ex-London Routemaster entered service. One Routemaster bus is run by the Sirasa TV and radio station.

Today's buses in Sri Lanka include MCW Metrobus (including 12m parts), Leyland Atlantean, and Dennis Trident 2 (1999/2000), plus some of the Volvo B7TL/East Lancs Vyking and Volvo B9TL/East Lancs Nordic buses.

Taiwan
In early 1990s, two three-axle Leyland Olympians were evaluated in Taipei and Taichung. The evaluation was unsuccessful and sold to Hong Kong for spares.

Thailand
Double deckers are also commonly found in Thailand nowadays. Previously there are Volvo B10M with Alexander bodies available.

Mexico
The Mexico City Metrobus bus rapid transit system started operating a fleet with 90 Alexander Dennis Enviro500s on February 2018.