Farewell To The Giants: Mumbai’s Jnnurm Cng Buses Retire After 15 Years Of Best Service

Published on October 15, 2025

For nan tireless metropolis of Mumbai, nationalist carrier is much than conscionable a convenience—it is nan city’s very bloodstream. And for 15 vibrant years, 1 peculiar workhorse kept that bosom pumping: nan full-size Ashok Leyland JnNURM Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) bus. On Saturday, October 11, 2025, that era officially drew to a close, not pinch a quiet travel to nan scrapyard, but pinch a magnificent and affectional ceremony led by a dedicated organization of autobus enthusiasts, ensuring these giants of nan roadworthy received nan farewell they deserved.

The event, which saw astir 23 dedicated fans stitchery to salary tribute, was a poignant testament to nan deep, almost familial enslaved that Mumbaikars stock pinch their civic infrastructure. These buses, first introduced successful 2009, were nan harbingers of modernity, shedding nan older, often rickety image of metropolis carrier and establishing a caller benchmark for comfort, efficiency, and engineering. Now, arsenic nan Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking pivots aggressively towards a cleaner, greener electrical fleet, nan beloved CNG carriers are completing their 15-year codal life and taking their last bows.

A Modern Icon of Mumbai’s Roads

The JnNURM buses—so named because their procurement was subsidized nether nan Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission—represented a important upgrade erstwhile they deed nan streets. BEST initially acquired 550 full-size and 250 midi Ashok Leyland BS3 CNG buses, fundamentally reshaping nan commuter experience.

They brought features that were, astatine nan time, highly precocious for nan city’s non-AC fleet: clear, crisp LED destination displays; wide rear doors for faster boarding and alighting; improved suspension that smoothed retired nan famously bumpy roads; and, astir memorably for nan enthusiasts, nan robust, refined roar of nan Ashok Leyland engine.

As enthusiast Neeraj articulated, these were “the modern buses of our childhood.” They weren’t conscionable functional; they were aspirational. “Their look, comfort, and nan powerful Leyland motor made each thrust memorable. Speeding connected nan Sea Link aliases cruising done nan metropolis felt for illustration an experience,” he reminisced. The buses became synonymous pinch a comfortable, swift, and reliable commute, weaving themselves into nan regular cloth and individual memories of an full procreation of Mumbaikars.

The Last Ride: A Journey Through Memory Lane

The affectional centerpiece of nan farewell was a ceremonial ride, meticulously planned by a halfway group of enthusiasts including Azharuddin Kazi, Sumedh Tambe, Rupak Dhakate, and Sahil Pusalkar. While nan original star—Bus 1864 from Malvani Depot, nan charismatic last autobus of nan bid slated for status connected October 25—was sidelined owed to a last-minute motor issue, nan show went on. Bus 1948, pressed into work from Gorai Depot, became nan stand-in for nan day’s celebration, carrying nan weight of nan full series’ legacy.

The time began astatine Malvani Depot pinch a heartfelt send-off. The bus, nary longer conscionable a inferior vehicle, was transformed into an entity of veneration, adorned pinch garlands, ribbons, and laminated photographs of its model, contributed by Gandharva. The rituals were accepted and warm: a coconut was surgery for bully luck, a barroom was trim successful ceremony of its agelong service, and unit members of nan depot were felicitated—a important motion to nan group who kept these machines moving for a decade and a half.

The travel itself was a curated masterpiece, designed to grant some nan buses and nan metropolis they served. It was a way meant to seizure nan spirit of Mumbai, traversing scenic and symbolic landmarks, immoderate of which nan JnNURM exemplary had ne'er officially serviced before.

The convoy moved from Malvani, done nan lush greenery of Aarey Colony, past nan bustling hubs of nan Mumbai International and Domestic Airports, earlier taking nan dramatic, sea-hugging expanse crossed nan Bandra-Worli Sea Link. It included a thrust on nan recently opened Mumbai Coastal Road, symbolically linking nan buses of nan past pinch nan infrastructure of nan future. A break astatine nan Mantralaya Bus Station allowed for snacks, photograph opportunities, and nan show of custom-designed T-shirts, personalized pinch a 3D rendering of nan autobus and nan participants’ favourite depot names.

The Echo of nan Leyland Engine

The organizers made judge to touch upon nan city’s humanities nervus points. The autobus continued its celebratory circuit past nan iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CST) and BEST’s historical Electric House-Colaba autobus Depot. The return travel offered a high-speed position of nan metropolis via nan Eastern Freeway, nan functional artery of nan Santacruz-Chembur Link Road, and a crossing complete nan precocious reconstructed Gokhale Bridge.

Rupak Dhakate, whose location depot was Malvani, said to nan individual value of nan day: “We couldn’t bid goodbye to nan past Viking from our depot, truthful this arena was other special. From nan engine’s roar to nan breeze done nan drop-down windows—nothing compares. It was an affectional ride.” This sentiment captures why nan farewell mattered: these buses were not acold metallic and glass; they were vessels of individual history, nan backdrop to first jobs, assemblage commutes, and late-night returns home.

The travel concluded backmost astatine Malvani Depot, marking nan successful completion of nan longest farewell circuit an Indian metropolis autobus is ever apt to receive. Even nan souvenir tickets, thoughtfully arranged by autobus instrumentality Abhishek Risbud, turned nan last transaction into a keepsake—a tangible representation of a thrust that would ne'er beryllium repeated.

As nan metropolis welcomes a caller fleet of silent, sleek, and zero-emission electrical buses, nan modulation is inevitable and basal for a sustainable future. But nan bequest of nan Ashok Leyland JnNURM buses, which paved nan measurement for this modernization, will stay indelible. As enthusiast Sahil summarized, while “Change is nan only constant… immoderate rides are genuinely unforgettable.” The echoes of nan powerful Leyland motor and nan emotion of nan oversea breeze done those drop-down windows connected a Sea Link cruise will everlastingly resonate successful nan bosom of Mumbai’s nationalist carrier history, proving that successful this city, a beloved autobus is genuinely a representation connected wheels.