Calcutta State Transport Corporation

Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC) was a West Bengal state government undertaken transport corporation. Headquartered in Kolkata, it was set up on 31 July 1948.[1] Currently it operates under the name WBTC. It plied buses in Kolkata and nearby districts of West Bengal, along with some long-distance services. CSTC owned 11 depots in Kolkata and the districts to station its fleet of busses.

For reading about the current operator, see West Bengal Transport Corporation.


Calcutta State Transport Corporation
Founded31 July 1948 (1948-07-31) as State Transport Services[1]
Defunct2017
HeadquartersBelghoria, West Bengal, India
Service areaKolkata
Long Distance Services till 2015
Service typelimited-stop, express bus service
Depots11 till 2017
Fleet782 till 2017
Daily ridership2000000
OperatorGovernment of West Bengal
Websitewbtc.co.in
The CSTC Maniktala bus depot, Kolkata.

History

Calcutta State Transport Corporation started its journey on 31 July 1948 as State Transport Services with an objective to provide efficient, adequate, economical and properly coordinated passenger bus service particularly in and around the city of Kolkata and in the state of West Bengal in general.

On 15 June 1960 the name of State Transport Service has changed to Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC) under the Road Transport Corporation Act, 1950. By 1966, it had upgraded its services and was connected to 90 percent of the national highways. To fulfill the demand of rural passengers, CSTC introduced one of the earliest Long Distance Bus Services (LDS) from Calcutta to Digha in April 1968.

Merger with WBTC

In 2017, the Department of Transport (West Bengal), under Transport Minister Protik Bhattacharya merged CSTC with other transport providers such as CTC and WBSTC and to form WBTC.

Operations

Fleet

With a fleet of 782 buses, CSTC was able to set up a number of bus routes in the southern part of West Bengal which were till then not connected to any other means of transport. CSTC also pioneered the running of air-conditioned Volvo buses in Kolkata, replacing the aging fleet.

Air conditioned buses were launched on July 2014 on 40 routes across the city and suburbs. They were in blue and white livery, the buses included a complete fleet of Volvo 8400 units as well as JanBus models from Ashok Leyland, the first low floor front entry public buses in the country. These were bought under the central JNNURM scheme.[2]

Depots

Former CSTC Depots used for parking and repairing buses.

References
  1. "Kolkata Road transport". Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  2. "City gets bus fleet the world is waiting for". 30 July 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
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