West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) is a West Bengal state government undertaken corporation. It plies buses, trams and ferries in the state. It was formed by merging CSTC, CTC and WBSTC. Bus services in Kolkata started in the year 1920, but it was unorganised.
The organized road transport in public sector was given shape on 31 July 1948 with the creation of State Transport Services under the Directorate of Transportation, Government of West Bengal. It started operations on 6 intracity routes, with a fleet of 25 buses.
West Bengal busfans knows how to have fun! Modern Day Mudflaps!
Video credit: Gandharva Purohit.
Diesel era started with the addition of 2 (two) Double Decker buses in 1949-50. Then the STS became self-sustainable with establishment of depots and terminals. Gradually the structure of State Transport Services turned into a full- fledged organization with spreading its network of operation throughout the entire city (mainly covering Calcutta Improvement Trust area).
After about 12 years, State Transport Services became CSTC (Calcutta State Transport Corporation) on 15 June 1960. This was the start of a new era for the public transport system in the city and state. Up to 1966-67 CSTC nationalized about 90% of the City routes.
After that CSTC could not sustain the increased passenger demands in the city mainly due to the financial constraints. Since then Government decided to allow private buses to operate in CSTC routes and areas. It also started operating on long distance routes, starting with Calcutta – Digha in 1968.
Over the years, with rapid expansions of long distance operations CSTC connected remote rural areas of the state with Kolkata. Soon, it covered almost the whole state and connected the district headquarter towns.
In the year 1989, a new body was formed, named West Bengal Inland Water Transport Corporation Limited, for operation of Vessel services. It started with the Ferry Service on the Hoogly and the Muriganga rivers.
Later this was merged into West Bengal State Transport Corporation, which provided bus services in Kolkata and different areas of South 24-Parganas, along with the CSTC.
In June 2016, WBSTC, CTC and CSTC were merged into one with operational name WBTC. Till the merge, WBSTC had a fleet of 233 (Volvo AC, TATA Marcopolo AC and Non-AC) buses.
Previously the depots were separately under WBSTC, CSTC and CTC. But after the merge, all came under WBTC. The previous owners of depot is also mentioned.
- WBSTC – Howrah, Saltlake, Sector-V
- CSTC – Howrah, Saltlake, Nilgunj, Belghoria, Paikpara, Manicktala, Kasba, Garia, Lake, Taratala, Thakurpukur, Tollygunge, Khidirpur, Gariahat, Park Circus, Rajabazar, Ultadanga
- CTC – Ghas Bagan, Kalighat, Belgachia, Barasat, Habra, Joka.
Source – Wikipedia.
