Sanjay Saxena, deputy chief general manager, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) said, "At present, the bus for Kathmandu departs at 10 am from Dr Ambedkar Stadium Terminal, Delhi Gate via the Agra-Kanpur-Lucknow Highway."
According to the approval of the competent authority, decisions have been taken for increasing passenger occupancy and decreasing travelling time of the bus service from Delhi to Kathmandu, he said in a statement.
"The bus will be operated via the Lucknow Express Highway on new surveyed route which will save around 49 km and approximately ₹2,774 per trip of the DTC," he said.
Majnu Ka Tilla in Delhi is the hub of Kathmandu passengers. For increasing the passenger occupancy, the bus will be sent to Majnu Ka Tilla at 5 am and will depart from there at 6 am to Delhi Gate Terminal," the statement said.
The bus will then depart at 7 am from Delhi Gate Terminal instead of the existing time of 10 am so as to avoid passengers waiting time of four to five hours at border. If the bus departs at 7 am, it may cross the border in the same night and passengers will reach Kathmandu faster than in other bus routes, he said. This will reduce approximately seven to eight hours per trip as the travel time will be 25-26 hours than the present 32-34 hours, the official said.
Further, the bus will have three halts for saving extra journey time. There will be two stoppages in India at 10 am for breakfast at Fooding Plaza, Agra Toll and at 2 pm for lunch at Food King Plaza, Lucknow. It will stop once in Nepal at 22:30 pm for dinner, he added.
One DTC official will be deployed at Majnu Ka Tilla for ticket booking and out-shedding of bus at 6 am and increasing the passenger occupancy.
The Delhi-Kathmandu bus service will be operated according to changed timing and route for one month on trial, starting from June 13, Saxena said.
No changes have been made for Kathmandu to Delhi bus service, he said. The bus service covers a distance of 1,167 km between Delhi and Kathmandu. It presently has halts at Firozabad and Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh and Mugling (Nepal).
The fare for the journey is around ₹2,800, officials said. The bus departs from Delhi to Kathmandu on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The return bus from Kathmandu to Delhi leaves on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
The bus service was launched in November 2014. The operation was shut down on March 23, 2020 amid the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was resumed in December last year.
