On the evening of August 21, bus fans said goodbye to Bus No. 112.

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Last month, Hongqihegou Bus Terminal was closed for construction, and all the bus routes originating in the station yard were relocated. Bus No.112 originally departed here has also been optimized, and adjusted with and merged into Bus No. 120. On the evening of August 21, more than ten "bus fans" came to Hongqihegou Bus Terminal to bid farewell to No. 112.

"Goodbye, Bus No. 112." This farewell may not be loud, but it was worth remembering.

Bus No. 112 was the first self-service bus route in Chongqing, where the passengers got on at the front door and off at the back. It was also the first batch of air-conditioned bus lines in Chongqing. Since then, the bus was no longer just equipped with hard seats, but with comfortable air conditioning and soft seats......

Bus No. 112 took the lead in piloting self-service ticketing

When did No. 112 start self-service ticketing? Bus fans only remembered that it was started in the 1990s, but they didn’t know the exact time. We searched a large number of information in Chongqing Library, and finally found the exact time.

On February 19, 1996 (January 1st in lunar calendar ), Bus No. 112 began to try out self-service ticketing, becoming the first self-service ticketing bus route in Chongqing. The self-service ticketing bus is operated by 35 new Chongqing Brand Five (32 seats) buses. The way of "getting on at the front door and getting off at the back door" is adopted. When passengers got on the bus, they put their money into the front door money box or showed the driver their monthly ticket.

After the trial implementation of self-service ticketing, the operation route was to start from Hongqihegou, passing through Damiao, Guanyinqiao, Huaxinjie, Shangqingsi, Xuetianwan, Daxigou, Huanghuayuan, Yihaoqiao, Linjiangmen and Xiaoshizi. One ticket system was adopted for the whole line, with one yuan for a ride. Passengers needed to bring change since the change would not be given back on the bus. 

At that time, it was still a trendy thing to take a self-service ticketing bus. Bus No. 112 differentiated from other buses in the way of getting on and off, and there was no station reporting by ticket seller. Instead, it used a cash box and a computer automatic telephone to report the station.

The first batch of air conditioning vehicles in Chongqing put into operation

Self-ticketing riding is an important symbol of urban civilization and an important reform measure of public transport. Bus No. 112 had brought a brand new civilized way for Chongqing citizens to travel, and also opened the era of self-service ticketing for Chongqing buses.

A year later, it surprised Chongqing citizens again.

In 1997, the first batch of Chongqing buses with soft seats and air conditioning were put into operation in Bus No. 112 and No. 413, which started the history of Chongqing public transport air conditioning. Before the mid-1990s, Chongqing buses were all hard-seated. The seats were iron frames and wooden strips, which made it easy to feel uncomfortable after sitting for a long time.

Air-conditioned Bus No. 112 adopted Shenfei air-conditioned bus with comfortable soft seats. Since then, it had become a pleasure to go out and take an air-conditioned bus. At that time, the starting fare of other ordinary buses was 0.5 yuan, and the highest price of air-conditioned Bus No. 112 was 2 yuan. Even though the price was four times higher, in summer, passengers were still scrambling to take it.

Yuzhong Peninsula is circled in and out

In April 2007, Bus No.112 ushered in a new change. Bus No. 102, No. 103, and 130 were merged into No. 112.

After the merger, the newly opened Bus No. 112 had become the round-city bus route from Hongqihegou to Yuzhong district, which was divided into two lines, the inner ring and the outer ring. Both routes passed through more than 20 stops. The starting ticket price was 1 yuan. Passengers could use IC cards for public transport. Over the past ten years, Bus No.112 inner ring route and outer ring stations although changed a lot, some stations had been left in the history, but the route of did not change.

Someone once compared Bus No.112 to the road of life. You set off from the beginning and went back at last. Along the way, you will witness the prosperity of Jiefangbei, but also feel the tranquility of the Yuzhong Peninsula.

At 22:40 on August 21, the last two buses of No. 112 returned to HongqiHegou Bus Terminal. This time, they reached their end. (Translated by Luo Juan, Fathom Language Limited)