Started in 1957, the Calcutta-London service was the longest bus service of the history.
During its journey, the bus crossed the Strait of Hormuz from India to Pakistan, then Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Austria, West Germany, Belgium and finally reached the UK on a ship.
The journey stretched over 32,670 kilometers took 50 days for completion.
The one-way trip of the service in 1957 cost £85 (equivalent to £2,589 in 2023) and £145 in 1973 (equivalent to £2,215 in 2023). This amount included food, travel and accommodation.
The special bus was equipped with the facilities of a kitchen, library, separate bunk beds for sleeping, heater/fan and music system.
Operated by Albert Travel, the maiden journey of the bus set out from London on April 15, 1957. The first service arrived in Calcutta after 50 days on June 5, 1957.
The bus met an accident few years later and became unusable. A British traveler, Andy Stewart purchased and rebuilt the vehicle to be a mobile home. Renamed as Albert, the double-decker traveled from Sydney to London via India on October 8, 1968 and it took about 132 days for the vehicle to reach London.
However, this bus service was permanently ended in 1976 due to two major reasons.
The first reason for closure of the service was problems in Iran and other was the increasing tensions between Pakistan and India.
It is said that Albert Tours completed about 15 trips between Kolkata and London and again from London to Sydney before permanent suspension of the service.
