May 23, 2014
WB Govt to launch inter-state bus service between Bengal and Bihar
In a major development in the transportarea, the State Transport Departments of West Bengal and Bihar signed an agreementon Wednesday to introduce inter-state bus services. Around 1,000 new buses in46 routes from the State to Bihar would be introduced, Mr. Madan Mitra, WestBengal Transport Minister said.
“People who used to go home in Bihar ortourists travelling to the neighbouring State had to face lots of problems. Nowthey will get good bus services,” the Minister said. Some of the new routes tobe included are Kolkata to Purnia, Howrah to Patna and Muzzafarnagar, Malda toSultanganj, and Kolkata to Biharsharif, Gaya, Sasaram, and Aurangabad, Mr.Mitra said.
Mr Mitra also informed that the statetransport department will rent out helicopters. The department will charge Rs 2lakh for an hour as rent. Industrialists will be befitted by this service, MrMitra said. The transport departmentwill hire the helicopters from a private organisation.
New buses for city commuters
West Bengal State Transport Department isplanning to introduce more than 150 air-conditioned buses in the city by July,with the first lot of 41 hitting the streets by the end of this month.
By the end of June, 22 more such buses willbe added to the fleet. All 63 AC buses to be rolled out in the first two phasesare manufactured by Volvo. Ninety more low-floor and semi-low floor AC buses,some of them manufactured by other companies, too, will join the fleet in July.
The existing AC bus fleet in the city is 92strong. Sixty of them are Volvos.
The state government will be introducingthe air-conditioned buses from May. Over a period of six months, the governmentwill deploy more than 230 AC buses in Kolkata, Transport Minister Madan Mitrasaid.
The buses, priced around Rs 1.1 crore each,will ply along old routes as well as a few new ones within the city and itsadjoining areas. In keeping with the demand, the transport department has drawnup some new routes for the AC buses – such as Nabanna-New Town, Parnasree-NewTown, Garia-Airport and Golf Green-Dakshineswar.
Buses at a glance
Present AC fleet: 92 buses
Current Volvo strength: 60
Number of AC buses to be added by July:About 150
Total AC buses to be introduced in Calcuttain another six months: 234
AC bus fare: Between Rs 15-Rs 75
New routes for AC buses: 7
