India, Aug. 7 -- Delhi government plans to start special inter-state buses to Bihar before the Chhath festival this year, transport minister Pankaj Singh said on Thursday. The project is part of the next phase of the rollout of the inter-state buses, with Delhi and Bihar set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) soon. "We have a target to launch these buses before Chhath festival this year; these will be AC luxury buses and initially we plan to rollout around 50 plus buses to seven locations in Bihar. The buses will not (be) limited to just the festival but operate round the year," transport minister Pankaj Singh said. Also Read - Narela: Merc-car crash kills woman pedestrian As per the plan, the buses will connect Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Purnia, and Bhagalpur in Bihar with Delhi. Citing current choices - private buses or trains - as expensive, the minister said the ticket in the government-run buses would be "economical." The government believes that this initiative will not only benefit passengers but also contribute to an increase in the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC's) revenue. The MoU between Delhi and Bihar is likely to be signed in September, soon after which the services will commence and depending on the response, the number of buses could also be increased. Also Read - CM gives jobs boost to 187 MCD employees According to officials, Volvo buses would ply on these longer routes as electric buses would not be a feasible option for now. "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 official 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.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.