With the construction of various roads, buses also started running
After entering the Republic of China, the old city of Chongqing began to become more and more crowded. In 1927, Chongqing began to plan to expand the new urban area to the west and build central trunk roads. By 1935, roads such as Zengjiayan to Qixinggang , the main road in the central area, and the main road in the southern area from Caiyuanba to Maizishi had been built. These roads connect the old city with the new urban area.
▲In 1933, looking at the old city of Chongqing from the Futuguan area, you can see that the trunk road in the central area has been repaired
According to the regulations of the city government at that time, it runs through the whole district and connects with the old city via the trunk road, with a width of 20 meters. The maximum slope is 4%. The branch road leading to the main road has a width of 10 meters and a maximum slope of 5%. The city street leading to the branch road has a width of 8 meters and a maximum slope of 5%.
▲ Urban road map (1937)
▲ 1940 road map of Chongqing urban area, the thick black line is the road
After the road was built, buses followed it. At the beginning, there were only two lines in the urban area, one was from Zengjiayan to Guojielou, and there were , Shangqingsi, , Meizhuan, Lianglukou, Guanyinyan, Qixinggang, Jiaochangkou, Duyou Street, Xiaoshizi and other stations on the line.
This line leaves the first train from Zengjiayan at 6:30 in the morning and the last train at 11:00 in the evening.
Another route is from Guojielou to Caiyuanba. It passes through the commercial market, Chuqimen , Nanjimen, Shibanpo, Yanxidong (aircraft terminal) and other stations, and then arrives at Caiyuanba.
▲ The first two urban bus lines opened
are between the urban area and the suburbs, and some public lines have also been opened. The Baxian Automobile Company runs the Yuci Line, departing from Qixinggang at 7:00 every morning, returning to Ciqikou, and ending at 4:00 p.m., one-way for about 1 hour, 6 round trips a day, and the fare is 1 yuan (1939).
In addition, there are bus routes from the urban area to Beibei , from the urban area to Qingmuguan, and from the urban area to Chenjiaqiao .
▲1936, the suburban highway from Liziba to Ciqikou
▲ During the period of the Republic of China, the Liangfu Road from Lianglukou to Futuguan
was between some scenic spots between the urban area and the suburbs. For the convenience of sightseeing, a special tourist line was opened. For example, from Haitangxi to South Hot Spring , from Lianglukou to North Hot Spring .
▲During the Anti-Japanese War , a Chongqing bus that looks a bit tattered. The word "sea temperature" on the roof of the car indicates that the route of this car is from Haitangxi to South Hot Spring. In 1939, the one-way fare on this line was 80 cents, but because gasoline was restricted at that time, there was actually a price but no car.
At that time, the area around Laoyingyan and the cave (the mountain behind the present Xinqiao Hospital) was a place with beautiful scenery in the suburbs of Chongqing.
▲Laoyingyan Panshan Road and flyover bridge on Chengdu-Chongqing Highway that has just been completed
▲Flyover bridge on Laoyingyan
This line departs from Lianglukou at 9:00 every day, one-way one hour, 4 round trips a day, one-way fare 7 cents 2 Min (1939), passing Hualong Bridge , Xiaolongkan, Xinqiao and other places. Later, this line was extended along the Chengdu-Chongqing Highway to Geleshan .
Difficulty in traveling by bus is a major difficulty in traveling
In 1937, there were only 73 buses in downtown Chongqing. Because there were too many people traveling by bus, traveling by bus was always a problem. In order to ease the travel pressure, No. 6 and No. 7 cars were added to the main routes later. By 1940, there were more than one hundred buses in the urban area, basically every ten minutes.
Even so, on the main line, apart from the easy to get a seat at the starting station, it is still difficult to get a seat at other intermediate stations.
The line from Zengjiayan to Guojielou was the most crowded and difficult line in the urban area at that time. In November 1938, a bus from Xiaoshizi to Shangqing Temple was added to this line. But because there are too many people by car, the problem of difficulty by car has not been solved yet.
▲During the Anti-Japanese War, the crowds on the bus in Chongqing
At that time, the number of people on the bus was 35, although it could squeeze 4 to 50 people. However, due to the lack of cars and the large number of people, it is often difficult to take a car. Only at the starting point, people who take a car usually line up in a long line. If you want to get on the bus halfway, you have to wait slowly. If you are unlucky, you don’t know how long you will have to wait to get on the bus.
A passenger’s personal experience reflects the changes in Chongqing’s public transportation over the past few years I have waited several times at Lianglukou Station for the train. Because there are many people waiting for the bus every time, the bus is full of people when the bus arrives at the station, and no one gets off the bus, so it is impossible to squeeze in. He never got on the bus.
He had to express the feeling that "the bus has never happened to me". Afterwards, when he travels, he would rather pay more to take the rickshaw than take the fast and cheap bus.
▲During the Anti-Japanese War, at Lianglukou, the building on the hill was the Soviet embassy at that time
came to Chongqing again, and the impression was "a new look"
In 1943, this Pan Taifeng stayed in Chongqing again for a few days, and this time he finally sat in the public The car is gone. He saw that the buses had been brand new, and they looked brand new. Wooden railings had been installed at the station, and the whole order looked very good.
Each car has two conductors. When the station is about to arrive, they will report the name of the station one after the other: "XXX is coming soon". When the bus arrived at the station, they received two more calls: "Exit XXX". When the car door is opened, they will also make short "quick" and "get off" sounds to urge people to get out of the car.
At this time, there are two types of buses: express buses and ordinary buses. The former only stops at a few large stations and costs ten yuan, while the latter stops at every station and costs eight yuan.
It seems that the buses in Chongqing left a good impression on Pan Taifeng. He used "a new look" to describe the public transportation in Chongqing at that time.
▲1941, Zhongshan Road
came to Chongqing for the third time. This time he saw that "the bus is still maintained, and the beautiful coat has long faded, and it has become dusty and old." The wooden railing at the
station is gone, but people are still waiting for the bus in an orderly manner. When encountering those who jump in line, the people behind will shout "observe order" and "observe order", so that these unruly ones will not be able to succeed. The
ticket has been increased to 25 yuan for the express train and 15 yuan for the ordinary car. Perhaps because of the high ticket price, the bus was not so crowded at this time, and it was easy to get a seat.
But the good times didn't last long. A few months later, the price of goods soared, money became less and less valuable, and the fare also rose to 40 yuan. At this time, people don't care about the ticket of tens of yuan. The ticket price of
40 yuan is more than 100 times the original ticket price, but even so, the operator still says it is losing money and needs monthly subsidies from the government. On the
station, you can see the long snake array lined up in the past. "Guojielou, Duyou Street, and Shangqing Temple are three important stations. They stretch for half a mile from the head of the snake to the tail of the snake when the company is on and off duty, which is particularly impressive." Waiting at the station for an hour and a half before getting on the bus, It is the norm.
▲During the Anti-Japanese War, people waiting for the bus on Duyou Street
