Delhi govt to start inter-state buses to Bihar before Chhath

Moving ahead with its plan to start inter-state buses to Bihar, the Delhi Transport Department has sent its proposal to Lieutenant Governor TS Sandhu for final approval, officials said on Wednesday.

Delhi government had earlier announced the project, which is part of the next phase of the rollout of the inter-state buses, with Delhi and Bihar approving the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

“We have a target to launch these buses before the Chhath festival this year; these will be AC luxury buses, and initially we plan to roll out over 50 buses to seven locations in Bihar. We have sent the proposal for approval to Sandhu; hopefully it will be approved soon,” Delhi Transport Minister Pankaj Singh said.

Earlier, the Transport Department had announced that the buses will connect Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Purnia, and Bhagalpur in Bihar with Delhi.

The government believes that this initiative will not only benefit passengers but also contribute to an increase in the Delhi Transport Corporation‘s (DTC’s) revenue, the officials said.

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According to officials, Volvo buses would ply on these longer routes as electric buses would not be a feasible option for now; depending on the response, the number of buses could also be increased.

“The long-route buses will be 12 metres long, air-conditioned, and equipped with luggage space. It is not feasible to ply electric buses to far-off locations because of the lack of charging infrastructure.

“We plan to take buses on a wet-lease model, wherein a concessionaire will come on board and operate the buses for us. These will be BS-VI compliant buses,” the officials added.

Earlier, the government had announced inter-state buses to Rishikesh, Haridwar and Dehradun in Uttarakhand; Panipat in Haryana; Ayodhya, Lucknow and Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh; and Amritsar, Chandigarh and Jammu.