Friday,
June 20, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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Lahore bus likely from July
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Tribune News Service
The Chief Managing Director of
the DTC, Mr A.J.S. Shahan, left, shakes hand with Mr Azfar
Shafqat, MD, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation, in
New Delhi on
Thursday. — Tribune photo Mukesh Aggarwal |
New Delhi, June 19
After a gap of 18 months, the Lahore bus service is all set to begin its journey on July 1, with officials of India and Pakistan today working out the technical modalities of the service. The bus service was suspended by India following terrorist attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001. On the first day of the two-day discussions between officials of the Delhi Transport Corporation and the Pakistan Transport Development Corporation, the sides agreed to run the service twice a week and finalised the fare structure. However, the final decision on visa and immigration remains to be settled. The DTC has decided to ply the same two golden-coloured buses that used to ply on the 538-km route earlier and is currently overhauling these. The service was launched with much fanfare on March 16, 1999, almost a month after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee undertook the historic bus trip to Lahore on February 19. The two technical teams discussed, among other things, the issue of fare, facilities, logistics and security measures. The officials expressed their readiness to begin the service from July 1. However, the exact date of the relaunch of the service would be decided by the two governments. The two buses will run on Tuesdays and Fridays as earlier and the fares will also remain the same for the time being. He said, “The fare from our side would remain Rs 800 and from their side Rs 950 for the time being,” the DTC Chairman said.
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