Did you know, the late 1950s offered people a lavish bus trip from London to Kolkata and London to Australia making it world’s first longest bus route?
A recent viral image shows passengers at the Victoria Coach Station, London, boarding ‘Albert’, apparently right before its first run between London and Kolkata.
The journey to Kolkata (formerly called Calcutta) took five days and the single fare was 85 pounds (Rs 8000), pretty expensive back then!
An image of the bus ticket is also making rounds on social media, that shows the route of the bus — London, Belgium, West Germany, Austria,Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, West Pakistan, India.
The route in India followed Delhi, Agra, Allahabad, Banaras and finally Calcutta.
Among the varieties of richness one could enjoy, few to mention would be, a lounge, sleeping bunks, fan heaters, carpeted floor, radio etc. It also displayed: “Your complete home while you travel”.
An image from the Shutterstock archive also shows the coach of 20 British people stopping for a picnic by a river in Yugoslavia during a 1957 London To Calcutta bus trip.
Albert has been reported to have made 15 such luxury trips between London and India.