At reduced bus fare, travel cheaper by 7% per km

LUDHIANA: The reduction in fares of Punjab Roadways and Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) buses took effect in the state from Saturday morning.

For most categories of buses, the reduction is around 7% per km, though the actual cut varies in a range, depending on the route one is travelling on.

Now, passengers travelling from Ludhiana to Chandigarh in a Volvo bus (super integral coach) have to pay ₹235 against ₹250 that they were being charged till now (6% cut).

For travel to Delhi from Ludhiana, using the same bus will also be cheaper by around 3%, with the ticket costing ₹730 against ₹750.

The fare for ordinary buses has been slashed by eight paisa per km and will be now 1.09 paisa per km against the previous 1.17 paisa per km (around 7%).

The fare for Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) buses has been reduced by 9.6 paisa and brought down to 130.8 paisa per km from 1.4 paisa per km. This is again a reduction of 7%.

The fare for integral coach has been reduced by 14.4 paisa per km and now will be 196.2 paisa per km from 2.1 paisa per km.

For super integral coach, a passenger has to pay 2.18 paisa per km against 2.34 paisa per km. The fare of super integral coach has been reduced by 16 paisa.

A passenger, Sahib Singh, who was boarding a Punjab Roadways’ ordinary bus to reach Chandigarh said, “The reduction of ₹5 does not make that much of a difference to me. I was expecting more reduction. However, it will benefit frequent travellers.”

“I appreciate the government’s move to cut fares. More passengers will prefer to travel by government buses due to its lower rates and there will be an overall benefit,” said Harpal Singh, a farmer who was boarding a bus to reach Kohara village.

Punjab Roadways Ludhiana depot general manager Gursewak Rajpal said, “The government has slashed bus fares due to the recent reduction in diesel price. The move is expected to encourage people to use government buses and move away fro using private vehicles.”

The government has slashed bus fares due to the recent reduction in diesel price. The move is expected to encourage people to use government buses. GURSEWAK RAJPAL, GM, Ludhiana depot, Punjab Roadways