82 buses to run on 17 Bihar-Bengal routes

PATNA: The Bihar State Road Transport Corporation (BSRTC) will soon start operating at least 82 buses on 17 Bihar-West Bengal routes under public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

“We have floated a tender to rope in private bus operators for running the buses and the deadline is June 30,” state transport secretary Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said on Friday and added there were certain routes where the demand for buses had increased.

The BSRCTC is also increasing the permits on some specific routes (Bihar-Uttar Pradesh, Bihar-Jharkhand and Bihar-West Bengal) witnessing huge footfall. “The private agencies will be working under a five-year contract issued by the state transport department. This initiative will help and motivate private bus operators seeking permits.”

Five buses each will run from Muzaffarpur to Siliguri via Darbhanga and Pratapganj, Darbhanga to Siliguri via Pratapganj, Madhubani to Siliguri via Darbhanga and Purnia and Patna to Bishanpur via Bahadurganj.

Seven buses will ply from Biharsharif to Kolkata via Bardhaman, Dhanbad and Haldia, Bhagalpur to Durgapur via Dumka, Niyamatpur and Asansol, Purnia to Raiganj via Dalkhola. Four buses each will run from Chhapra to Siliguri via Darbhanga and Pratapganj, Patna to Durgapur via Aurangabad and Hazaribagh, Jogbani to Siliguri via Araria and Naxalbari, Muzaffarpur to Siliguri via Thakurganj.

Besides, two buses each will ply from Motihari to Siliguri via Muzaffarpur and Purnia and from Patna to Thakurganj via Purnia and Kishanganj. Three buses will run from Purnia to Galgalia via Kishanganj and Dalkhola and Katihar to Siliguri via Dalkhola.

Apart from this, nine buses will run on the Gaya-Kolkata route via Chatra, Dhanbad and Asansol.

According to the transport secretary a tender will soon be floated for inviting bus operators on the Bihar-Jharkhand route.

Courtesy: TNN