Hyderabad: Telangana Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Minister KT Rama Rao on Saturday took a nostalgic trip down memory lane, recalling the days when he used to take the iconic green double-decker bus to school.
The Minister shared a picture posted by a user named Shaker Hussain. The user attached an old photograph of the iconic 7Z green RTC bus that was functional, from Secunderabad via Afzalgunj and High Court route till the Zoo Park. He also requested if the double-decker bus service could be resumed for tourists or as a public bus itself.
Lost in time
The double-decker buses were a common sight in Hyderabad, until the late 1980s. The first bus services began in the city by the sixth Nizam in 1856 when Mir Mahboob Ali Khan’s wife Zahoorunnissa used the ‘Meher’ money she got it at the time of her marriage to start the transport service in Secunderabad. The ‘Z’ letter still remains as a tribute to Zahoorunnisa and Nizam State Road Transport Department.
The popular double-decker bus route was 7Z itself, which ran between Secunderabad and Zoo Park. The other routes were 5Z—from Secunderabad to Mehdipatnam via Rani Gunj, 2Z—between Charminar and Secunderabad; among others. A few of these buses also ran until the late 1990s, before they were lost in time.
KTR, who tweeted about his memories, also asked Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar if there was any chance of bringing back the double-deckers. The Transport Minister replied positively, that he shall talk to the Managing Director of TSRTC on the possibility.
Similar experiments to bring double-decker buses back were successful in Kolkata and Thiruvananthapuram.