Bonanza for NRIs: 7 buses to ply from Jalandhar to IGI Airport daily

Jalandhar, June 10

Breaking the monopoly of Indo Canadian Transport Company that had been charging hefty fares from NRIs for ferrying them safely to IGI Airport in New Delhi, the Punjab Transport Department is set to start its own Volvo bus service from June 15 after the flagging off ceremony to be held at the Jalandhar bus stand.

As Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will flag off the bus at 1.15 pm on June 15 from Jalandhar, the services will start simultaneously from other cities like Amritsar, Pathankot, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Patiala, Ropar and even Chandigarh as well.

However, NRI hub Jalandhar will have a maximum of seven buses plying from here at 7:40 am, 11 am, 1:15 pm, 3:30 pm, 7 pm, 8:30 pm and 11 pm. Amritsar will have three buses at 9 am, 12 noon and 1:40 pm. Likewise, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur, Pathankot and Kapurthala will have one bus each. Patiala, Ropar and Chandigarh will have two buses each.

While Indo Canadian company charges over Rs 2,850 per trip from Jalandhar to Delhi airport and the bus fare varies according to comfort of the seat, the state buses will charge only Rs 1,170. The officials claim that their charges from all destinations would be less than half of what Indo Canadian had been charging.

They further said the bus service has got a stage carriage permit and hence will be picking passengers en route from designated points as per advance booking. Their fare will be less and not the same as the starting point as the other private company has been doing, said an official.

A team of officials from Transport Department, including Special Secretary (Transport) Pardeep Kumar Sabharwal, and Director (Transport) Amandeep Kaur, on Friday took a round of the bus stand to review the ongoing preparations for the ceremony on June 15.

Sabharwal said people could book their seats for IGI Airport through websites of Punjab Roadways and PUNBUS. Passengers can book online tickets six months before their journey besides getting manual tickets from the counters at respective bus stands three months before their date of travel.

Sabharwal asked the officials to ensure that all requisite arrangements are put in place well in time. Meanwhile, the Special Secretary and Director Transport accompanied by ADC (G) Major Amit Sareen and other officers of different departments held a meeting at the DAC to finalise the sequence of events.