Nearly 30,000 passengers book bus tickets in advance for Dashain within two days

KATHMANDU, Sept 30: At least 29,955 passengers have bought bus tickets in advance from New Bus Park within the past two days in order to travel to their ancestral homes for the upcoming Dashain, Tihar and Chhath festivals. 

A joint meeting of officials from the Department of Transport Management, Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office and the Federation of Nepalese National  Transport Entrepreneurs had decided to open advance ticket booking for long-distance vehicles last week.

According to Pankaj Malla, manager of Lhotse Multipurpose Pvt Ltd, which oversees the New Bus Park, 18,365 passengers booked the advance tickets on Saturday while 11,590 passengers did so on Sunday.

The government has started providing tickets in advance to passengers traveling to places including Darchula, Dhangadhi, Tikapur, Bajhang, Bajura, Pyuthan, Rukum, Rolpa and other places in the Sudurpaschim and Kakarbhitta, Bhadrapur, Tehrathum, Khandbari, Taplejung, Bhojpur, Ilam, Pashupatinagar, Dharan, Biratnagar and other places in the east.

The government is preparing to open tickets for short-distance vehicles heading to various destinations such as Gorkha, Pokhara, Lamjung, Baglung, Myagdi, Syangja, Nuwakot, Rasuwa and others along the Prithvi Highway.

Bijay Bahadur Swar, president of the Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs  said that efforts are underway to ensure safe travel of passengers heading home for the festive celebrations.

Public vehicles, which have been halted in Kathmandu for three days due to incessant rain, have gradually started heading towards their destinations from New Bus Park. According to the data, annually over 2 million passengers leave the Kathmandu valley during the Dashain festival.