HRTC bus service to Khatu Shyam, Ayodhya ‘unviable’, to run once a week

Subhash Rajta

Shimla, July 11

The recent initiative of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) to start bus service to religious places and strengthen the existing services is yielding mixed results. While the bus services to Ayodhya and the Khatu Shyam temple in Rajasthan are turning out to be financially unviable, the buses plying to places on the Buddhist religious circuit is doing brisk business.

Delhi-Leh service big success

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• The bus service to places of religious significance on the Buddhist circuit is doing quite well
• The New Delhi-Leh bus service has turned out to be a big success
• Also, the Manali-Zanskar bus route is earning good revenue
• The bus service to Mata Bhangayani temple at Haripurdhar in Sirmaur district, which was started last year, is also doing good business

“The revenue from the bus service to Ayodhya and Khatu Shyam isn’t on the expected lines. So, we have decided to ply buses on these routes once a week instead of on all seven days,” says Rohan Chand Thakur, Managing Director, HRTC. The bus service to Ayodhya was started from Hamirpur after the consecration ceremony at the Ram Temple earlier this year.

Thakur said that the income on the Hamirpur-Ayodhya and Una-Khatu Shyam temple routes was less than Rs 25 per km. The average expenditure of the HRTC buses, on the other hand, was around Rs 65 per km. “The major reason why we are bleeding losses on these routes is the availability of other means of transport to these destinations. Since the journey is quite long, people prefer trains over buses while travelling to these destinations,” said Thakur.

Meanwhile, the bus service to the places of religious significance on the Buddhist circuit is doing well. “The Delhi-Leh bus service has turned out to be a big success. It is earning around Rs 75 per km. Also, the Manali-Zanskar bus service is giving us good revenue,” said Thakur.

The bus service to Mata Bhangayani temple at Haripurdhar in Sirmaur district, which was started last year, was also doing good business. “The bus services to Ayodhya and Khatu Shyam are exclusively for tourism and have an element of seasonality. The services to Ladakh, Zanskar and Haripurdhar cater to both tourists as well as local commuters. And that’s probably the biggest reason for their commercial success,” said Thakur.

Incidentally, the HRTC plans to ply 100 buses to religious places within and outside the state. Besides, the HRTC also plans to start dedicated bus services to important medical institutions like AIIMS, New Delhi, and the PGI, Chandigarh.