Bus ticket booking for Dashain opens from Sept 10

KATHMANDU, Aug 24:

Transport entrepreneurs are taking advance reservation for bus tickets for the Dashain festival from September 10.

A meeting between government officials and transport entrepreneurs held in Kathmandu on Friday took the decision to this effect.

Every year, transport entrepreneurs open advance reservation two weeks before the Dashain festival. Majority of the people in the capital city leave for different parts of the country to celebrate the festival with their family members. The country’s biggest festival starts from September 25 this year.

“Transport entrepreneurs are opening advance reservation of bus tickets for Dashain from September 10,” Mukti KC, director of Department of Transport Management (DoTM), told Republica, adding, “We believe the advance booking of tickets two weeks before the festival will ease movement of travelers across the country.”

KC said the department will coordinate with transport entrepreneurs, traffic police and Nepal Police to facilitate travelers heading to different parts of the country during Dashain.

According to KC, DoTM is planning to set up 11 help desks in different parts of the capital. It is also setting up 13 help desks in major cities outside the capital.

Apart from solving problems of travelers, the help desks will also control anomalies in the transportation sector, according to KC. “Every year we receive complaints that transporters charge arbitrary fares on long routes,” KC said. “Our help desks will control such activities.”

Meanwhile, DoTM has formed a high-level monitoring committee, comprising of government officials, traffic police, Nepal Police and transport entrepreneurs, to inspect different transit points and ticket counters inside and outside the valley during the festive occasion. “The team will be mobilized to different parts of the country to check black-marketeering of bus tickets,” KC said, adding, “An individual can buy a maximum of five tickets during Dashain.”

Similarly, the department has urged transport entrepreneurs to use at least two drivers on long-routes to minimize the possibility of accidents.

Meanwhile, transporters are also mulling over increase the number of vehicles on major routes in a bid to facilitate travelers. “Most of the entrepreneurs are planning to double their vehicles during Dashain and Tihar festivals,” Bharat Nepali, president of Association of Bagmati Transportation Entrepreneurs, said. “We will raise the number of buses to 7,500 from existing 4,000,” he added.

Likewise, Dharma Raj Rimal, Bagmati Zone coordinator of the National Federation of Nepal Transport Entrepreneurs (NFNTE), said transport entrepreneurs adding new buses on their fleet and overhauling existing buses to increase their services during Dashain.

Source: Republica