Buses start plying on Gandhi Maidan-Handi Saheb route

PATNA: State transport minister Santosh Kumar Nirala on Monday flagged off three buses from Bankipore bus stand to Handi Saheb Gurdwara (Danapur). The new bus service was rolled out on route number 666 by Bihar State Road Transport Corporation (BSRTC).
The 36-seat buses will halt at Golghar, Police Lines Mor, Bans Ghat, Rajapur Pul, LCT Ghat, Kurji Holi Family Hospital, Kurji Mor, St Michael’s High School, St Xavier’s Training School, FCI godown, Digha Thana, Bata factory, Nasriganj, BS College and Handi Saheb Gurdwara.
The minister said the new buses would cover many important places and prominent educational institutes and hospital. “Earlier, there was no transport department bus on this route. The bus service has been started on the residents’ demand,” he said.
State transport secretary Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said the department was trying to connect all the major routes across the city for the residents. He said the department would introduce new bus services from Gandhi Maidan to Anugrah Narayan College next month. “With the introduction of city buses, the other private buses have shifted to other routes and this led to smooth traffic movement. The private buses used to jam the roads and stop anywhere even if there was no stoppage,” he said.
Agarwal said, “Of the 36 seats in a bus, 60% would be reserved for women, disabled and old people. All the buses are well-equipped with GPS and speed governor and other facilities like water-cooler, first-aid and fire extinguisher.”
The minimum fare per passenger will be Rs5 and maximum Rs14, depending on the distance to be covered. The bus will take 50 minutes to complete the 11.6km-long journey from Gandhi Maidan to Handi Saheb Gurdwara. The buses on this route would be in every 30 minutes.
The department is already running 84 buses on nine routes — Patna to Danapur (route number 111), Danapur Junction (111A), Phulwarisharif and AIIMS Patna (222), Patna University (333), Hajipur railway station (444), Patna Sahib and Patna City (555), Indian Institute of Technology-Patna Bihta (888), ESI Hospital Bihta (888A) and Manersharif (999).