Delhi-Gaya luxury bus for Pitrapaksha Mela

PATNA: There is good news for those residing in and around Delhi and are willing to visit Gaya for ‘pindadaan’ during the Pitrapaksha Mela from September 17.
Bihar State Road Transport Corporation Ltd (BSRTC) has decided to run a luxury bus between New Delhi and Gaya and another from Nalanda to Bodh Gaya. State transport minister Santosh Kumar Nirala will flag off the buses at Gaya bus depot on September 13.
According to sources, the Delhi-Gaya bus will start from Gaya at 4pm and reach Delhi via Bodh Gaya, Sherghati, Aurangabad, Sasaram, Mohaniya, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Kanpur and Agra at 12 noon next day.After a halt of four hours at Kaushambi bus depot in Anand Vihar, the bus will return to Gaya. The 1,091km-long distance will be covered in 20-hours. The booking for the buses has started on redbus.com and the fare between Delhi and Gaya is Rs1620 per person.
The airconditioned bus is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities like Wi-Fi, live TV, Dolby Digital audio-video DVD player, two LCD screens and mobile/laptop charging point with every seat.
The 52-seater bus is also equipped with safety measures like fire extinguisher, GPS, speed governor, first-aid kit and emergency exit.
The Nalanda-Bodh Gaya bus will stop at Gaya, Wazirganj, Hisua and Rajgir. It will complete the 96km-long journey in two hours. The bus will make three rounds daily.
Transport secretary Sanjay Kumar Agarwal told this newspaper on Wednesday that the bus will start from Bodh Gaya at 6am. It will reach Nalanda at 8am. “After a 30-minute break, it will return to Bodh Gaya at 10.30am,” he said and added: “The second trip from Bodh Gaya will start at 11am and the third trip at 4.30pm. The fare is Rs190 per person.”
The department will also start 15 city buses — seven from Vishnupad to Bodh Gaya and four each from Vishnupad to Pretshila, and Gaya railway station to Vishnupad.
“People will get the buses on these three routes on 15 minutes interval. The minimum fare will be Rs5 and the maximum Rs33 per passenger, depending on the distance covered. Almost 60% of the 36 seats would be reserved for women, disabled and old people,” Agarwal said.