MOTOR BUSES MAKING HEADWAY IN INDIA.

Northern Advocate, 16 March 1929, Page 15

MOTOR BUSES MAKING HEADWAY IN INDIA.

The use of motor buses in India has grown rapidly in recent years and is continuing to develop all over the country, according to W. McHardy Forman, Managing Director of General Motors, New Zealand, Limited,. “India is approximately the size of Europe without Russia, and has' a population of 320,000,000 people, 90 per cent of whom live in the country. Almost all fhe big towns and cities in the country are connected by railways, with a regular and fast service, but large tracts yet untouched' by rails. For about 500 miles along the coast from Bombay, for instance, there, is no railway line because of the ruggedness of the country and numerous rivers which swell during the rainy season,” said Mr Forman. Before the introduction of the bus people travelled only in: cases of great necessity. There was a system, of stage coaches, but the service was slow and disappeared .rapidly with; the advent of the motor- bus. “The highways, are mostly of the waberbound macadiam type, except in big cities like Bombay, where thore are asphalt and other dustless pavements. Light buses' equipped with’ pneumatic tyres are used. The bus has given a new life to road improvement. The cry for more railways which was so persistent a few years ago is no longer heard,” continued Mr Forman. “Today the demand is- ■ for better roads and the Government is turning its attention to the highways, “In India the bus became a popular means of long distance travel only after th<e war. “The bus was first seen in India in the form of an ordinary four or sixpassenger motor car. Enterprising individuals formed small companies' l and started regular passenger services, from fair off towns to railway stations. These b uses served only as feeders

the railways, but they demonstrated the usefulness of the busi for long distance travel. The service became so popular that larger vehicles were needed. “The, extension of the service, followed. Buses began to run between towns not connected by railway and

in some cases even between places connected by rail. “Today there is not a single main road in India without its regular bus service. Even small villages want to be on a bus line, Buses, are, coming popular for the ttanspdrtfttibn of goods for short distances.”