New Delhi: Delhi-Kathmandu Bus Service, was suspended for more than a half years because the Covid-19 pandemic, will be continued from December 15, the transportation official said on Tuesday.
Notifications released on Monday by Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) stated that the Delhi-Kathmandu bus will operate from the Ambedkar bus terminal at 10 am on December 15, said Deputy DTC General Manager (PR) Minhas Hospital.
File: Delhi-Kathmandu Bus – Piyal Bhattacharjee (TOI) DTC has been tied with Skyline India (Motors) Pvt Ltd for the operation of the bus.
“The latest Covid-19 protocol / guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) must be followed in true spirits in all conditions,” notification of notifications.
Bus services, connecting the capital of India and Nepal, was launched in November 2014.
The operation was closed on March 23, 2020 in the middle of the first wave of pandemic.
This will be “mandatory” for all passengers to carry a Covid vaccine dose certificate and negative RT-PCR test reports within 72 hours starting from the trip, said a senior DTC official.
Passengers will not be allowed to take a bus if they fail to produce documents, he said.
The bus service covers a distance of 1,167 km between Delhi and Kathmandu with cessation in Firozabad, Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh and Muglew (Nepal).
Previously, travel rates cost more than RS 2,300 which has now increased to around Rs 2,800, said a DTC official.
The bus departed from Delhi to Kathmandu on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
The bus returned from Kathmandu to Delhi left on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, he said.
The bus will also stop in Sonauli (Indian-Nepal border) for customs inspection.
Passengers traveling between Delhi and Kathmandu are not allowed to go down or start enroute except at the scheduled time.
The Maitri Rental Bus was initiated as a symbol of friendship between India and Nepal and since its incident, the bus often brought pilgrims, tourists, foreign delegates and the general public from the two countries.
However, there was no development in other international bus services DTC between Delhi and Lahore, officials said.
DTC has suspended bus services for Lahore in 2019.
This decision was taken after Pakistan had suspended Delhi-Lahore bus services after India revoked J & K special status, after crossing Article 370.