Delhi-Kathmandu bus service to begin during Modi's Nepal visit

Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) is all set to launch the Delhi-Kathmandu bus service around the same time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on his two-day visit to Nepal for the SAARC summit on 26-27 November.

A DTC team is already in Nepal to finalise the route, halting points and other logistical details for the bus journey.

"We have already acquired a luxury Volvo bus which will ply on the rout. The tentative date for the maiden journey is 26-27 November. The one-way fare from the national capital to Kathmandu will be around Rs 2,300," DTC spokesperson R S Minhas said.

This service will start from Ambedkar Stadium Bus Terminal in the national capital and end in Kathmandu.

According to the corporation, a team of DTC experts have been sent to Kathmandu to study the routes, halting points and others issues.

"Around 15 days back, PMO had asked DTC to be ready to run Delhi-Kathmandu bus service and the coporation is now in the final stage to launch it," said a senior official.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to announce DTC's Delhi-Kathmandu bus service when he will be on his two-day visit to Nepal for the SAARC summit.

The bus service is touted to be a major boost in terms of trade and tourism and will also strengthen the bilateral ties between the two neighbouring countries.

At present, DTC has been running Delhi-Lahore bus, which was launched by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in March 1999.

As part of its inaugural run on February 19, 1999, Vajpayee went to attend a summit in Lahore in DTC's Delhi-Lahore bus service where he was received by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at Wagah.

On November 1, the corporation had increased the fare of Delhi-Lahore bus service from Rs 1500 to 2400.