Advance ticket booking opens for Dashain from today

The government has opened advance ticket booking for long and medium routes from today targeting passengers going to their homes in districts outside the Kathmandu Valley and vice-versa for the upcoming Dashain, Tihar and Chhath festivals.

However, ticket booking for short routes will be opened from Ghatasthapana, the first day of the 15-day Dashain festival, which falls on October 15 this year, said authorities.

The ticket booking has been opened targeting those who are leaving Kathmandu for festivals, it has been said. Six days remain for Ghatasthapana, with the opening of the advance ticket booking, there has been a flood of passengers to buy tickets at the New Bus Park since today morning.

The number of passengers at the bus park has increased this year as opposed to previous years, it has been said. Ticket counters at the bus park have been crowded with passengers going to places like Darchula, Dadeldhura, Dhangadhi, Tikapur, Bajhang, Bajura, Salyan, Rukum, Puythan and Rolpa in the west and Taplejung, Ilam, Kakadvitta, Udayapur and other places in the east.

Dipak Rawal, who was heading to Darchula with his four family members, reached the bus park from Lalitpur at 3 am to book a ticket. He wanted to book a ticket for 19 October to go to his home to celebrate Dashain. But he could not get one until 8:30 in the morning. “As there are few buses going to Darchula, there is a problem to get a ticket. Buses should be added during Dashain,” he said. One-way transport fare from Kathmandu to Darchula has been fixed at Rs 4,600 per person.

Devraj Ojha, who reached the bus park to book a ticket for Dhangadhi, was waiting to buy a ticket. Ojha, who works for Universal College in New Baneshwor as a supervisor, wants tickets for five people from Kathmandu to Dhangadhi. He had been in a queue since 5 am.

If the government makes arrangements for booking tickets online, you can book tickets online, removing problems and inconvenience being faced by passengers, he viewed.

However, Punya Prasad Sitaula, Senior Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs, claimed that passengers easily get tickets during Dashain. “Due to damaged roads, it takes some time for public vehicles to reach their destinations. But no passengers are left behind without a bus,” he said.

The government is at work to open road permits for traffics in all areas of the country for Dashain. Every year, around 2.2 million passengers left Kathmandu for their home during Dashain.

Meanwhile, Lhotse Multipurpose Pvt. Ltd. has added 24 booking counters at the bus park in collaboration with transport entrepreneurs. It has also opened advance ticket booking.

Ticket booking counters have been added to systematically provide tickets to the passengers going home for Dashain, said the Lhotse spokesperson Pankaj Malla. “Now, we have added 24 ticket booking counters. We can add more as per need,” he said.

From the bus park, around 1,000 public vehicles commute between Kathmandu and more than 68 districts outside on a daily basis, said transport entrepreneurs.