Shimla: The state government has decided to operate the interstate bus services of Himachal Road Transport Corporation from October 14. Transport Minister Bikram Singh gave this information on Tuesday.
In the first phase, interstate bus services will be started on 25 routes. Among these, Chandigarh, Pathankot, Baddi, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Ambala, Haridwar etc. are the main routes. Only non AC buses will run on the interstate routes. Night bus services will also be included in interstate bus routes.
Interstate buses plying from Himachal to the outer states will be run to Ambala in the first phase. The states which had not agreed to run buses earlier have now agreed to restart bus service. The government of Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi have agreed to start interstate bus service. In such a situation, the government will run the bus to Ambala in the first phase. There is no proposal to run buses from Shimla to Delhi in the first phase.
In the second phase, bus services will be started for Delhi and other states. Transport Minister Bikram Thakur said that the other states have also agreed to start the interstate bus service. The Uttarakhand government had earlier refused to start a bus service to Haridwar, but now the government has agreed. In such a situation, bus service will also be started for Uttarakhand.
Bikram Singh said that the state government has taken this decision to provide convenience to the people in view of the Navratri and other upcoming festivals. For quite some time, common people have been demanding to start interstate bus services. Hence, to honour their demands, this decision has been taken.
According to the SOP prepared by the Transport Department, there will be 50 percent occupancy in AC buses running interstate. At the same time, 60 percent occupancy has been said in non AC buses. The Transport Minister said that soon the government will take a decision on starting interstate bus services.
