KATHMANDU, September 18: Transport operators are taking advance booking from September 26, targeting the passengers leaving the Kathmandu Valley for the upcoming Dashain festival, which starts from October 7.
An agreement reached among the Department of Transport Management (DoTM), Central Federation of Public Transport and Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD) on Thursday allows the transport operators to open the ticket pre-booking service from 11 days earlier of Ghatasthapana, the first day of Dashain. Passengers can also use online platforms to book their seats this year, said Namaraj Ghimire, director general at the DoTM.
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According to Ghimire, they have not changed the fares of transport service during the festival. The government body has already raised the transport fares by 28 percent since mid-July this year.
As a large number of Valley dwellers leave for their homes to celebrate the festival, the demand for long-route bus services surges every year during the period. According to the records with MTPD, in 2019 Dashain, around 1.2 million people left the Valley to celebrate the festival. It was only last year that the situation appeared different due to the risk of the COVID-19 pandemic.
