AC buses touched the roads of Patna from today

Now Patnites Can boast of travelling by AC buses, a bonanza for tourists and the daily travelers.From today a fleet of seven AC buses have started plying on a number of routes in the city. Eden Transport Private Limited, a Calcutta-based company, is operating operate these buses.

The service was earlier supposed to start on July 7 but was postponed because of delay in the issuance of permits.

“At present, we will start the service with seven buses. All of these vehicles are air-conditioned and have seating capacity for 36 passengers,” said Kunal Sharma, chief operations officer, Eden Transport Private Limited.

The buses will ply on the longer routes like Gandhi Maidan to Khagaul, Bailey Road or Danapur. You can recognise them easily as they will be coloured maroon and white.

The tickets for rides on these buses are priced at Rs 10, Rs 15 and Rs 20.

“Passengers will have to pay Rs 20 for a trip from Gandhi Maidan to Danapur. An intricate fare chart has been drawn up. The details will be announced tomorrow. These will be the first air-conditioned passenger buses in Patna,” Sharma said.

He added: “The buses will start operating from 5.30am and will be available every half-an-hour. The state transport department has approved the permits. We are also discussing the possibility to run 200 buses in the state capital.”

Passengers who wish to travel between the airport and Patna Junction will, however, have to wait, as the service on this route would be started later.

Sharma said: “Talks are on with the airport authorities. Operations on this route will start soon.”

Sachidanand Rai, the managing director of Eden City Group, told The Telegraph that the buses on the airport route could start operating in two to three days.

“There is no problem to start operations on this particular route. Initially, we had applied for permit for seven routes only. The plan to operate buses on the airport route was tabled a little later. The plan is in its final stage. The route will be finalised in a short time. The fare for the airport route could be Rs 25, as it is a premium course,” he said.