Agencies (NEW Delhi, 8 August 2021) – The Delhi Transport Corporation has announced plans to resume Maitri Bus Sewa between Delhi and Nepal soon if the COVID situation improves. The bus service was started between the two countries a few years back, but was suspended due to the pandemic that hit the world in March 2020.
An official in the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) told a news agency that as of now, no date has been fixed yet for the resumption of the services. The official also said that DTC is planning to send its recommendations for this purpose to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). And if the proposal gets approved, the services will restart soon.
R.S. Minhas, Deputy Chief General Manager (Traffic & Public Relations) in DTC, said, “DTC is doing its part to restart bus services but as they were suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so to restart the services, DTC would need to have the final consent from the MEA. Once the approval comes, there will be no delay from DTC’s side.”
A trans-boundary bus service, the Delhi-Kathmandu bus connects the capital cities of both the countries. Started in 2014 by DTC, the buses cover a 1250 km long journey in 30 hours. From India, the buses are operated from the Ambedkar Stadium bus terminal in Delhi and ends at Kathmandu bus stand located near the Pashupatinath Temple.
In India, the route covers Agra (by Yamuna Expressway), Firozabad, Kanpur, Lucknow and Gorakhpur. At Sunauli border, customs checks are carried out. In Nepal, the bus travels via Tilottama, Rupandehi, Kawasoti and Narayangadh.
In India, the bus service is run by DTC and in Nepal, the Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNNTE) operates the service.