PATNA: The state transport department has decided to roll out seven new buses between Bihar and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh (UP) this week. They will be operated by the Bihar State Road Transport Corporation (BSRTC).
According to transport officials, five Volvo and two sleeper buses will run on the Patna-Ghaziabad, Nalanda-Ghaziabad, Buxar-Ghaziabad and Kishanganj-Ghaziabad routes. While two Volvo and two sleeper buses will ply on the Patna-Ghaziabad route, one Volvo bus each will start from Nalanda, Buxar and Kishanganj.
The fully air-conditioned buses will be equipped with global positioning system (GPS), CCTV cameras, Wi-Fi service and cellphone/laptop chargers, among other facilities. The 52-seater Volvo bus will have pushback seats with comfortable belts, armrests on either side and enough leg space. There will also be magazine nets, grab handles, bottle holders, LCD screens and DVD players. The sleeper buses, on the other hand, will have a capacity to accommodate 42 passengers during a one-way journey.
Buses on the Patna-Ghaziabad route will stop at Muzaffarpur, Kanti, Pipra Kothi, Gopalganj, Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Noida and Agra. The bus from Nalanda to Ghaziabad will cover Biharsharif, Nawada, Hisua, Gaya, Sherghati, Aurangabad, Dehri-on-Sone, Sasaram, Mohania, Chandauli, Mughalsarai, Varanasi, Kanpur, Agra and Noida.
The bus on Kishanganj-Ghaziabad route will cover Purnia, Araria, Forbesganj, Phulparas, Jhanjharpur, Sakri, Darbhanga, Simri, Kanti, Pipra Kothi, Kuchaikote, Deoria, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Noida and Agra, while the one on the Buxar-Ghaziabad route will stop at Kochas, Sasaram, Mohania, Chandauli, Mughalsarai, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Fatehpur, Kanpur, Etawah, Agra and Noida.
“During festive times, people will not have to depend on flights or trains. They will easily get bus tickets at low prices and travel comfortably,” Transport secretary Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said and added the travel duration from Patna to Ghaziabad would be about 18 hours.
The fare for travelling by a sleeper bus is Rs 1,500 and that for a Volvo bus is Rs 1,650. Tickets can be booked in the online as well as offline modes.
The buses between Patna and Ghaziabad will start their journey from the Bankipore bus stand at 11am every day and reach Ghaziabad the next day at 7am. Those from Kishanganj will leave at 11am and reach the destination at 9.30pm the same day. The buses on Nalanda-Ghaziabad and Buxar-Ghaziabad routes will leave at 2pm and reach Ghaziabad at 11.40am and 8am the following day, respectively.
