Punjab in talks with Delhi to resume bus service to IGI Airport

The development comes after the newly formed AAP government in Punjab sent a detailed proposal to its Delhi counterpart for resuming the bus service

Resumption of bus service from Punjab to the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in the national capital is back on the table with the state transport department holding multiple meetings with their Delhi counterparts in the past three weeks.

In July 2018, the PRTC had started eight luxury buses from Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Hoshiarpur to and from the IGI Airport in Delhi, but these had to be discontinued due to permit issues. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

The development comes after the newly formed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab sent a detailed proposal to the Delhi government, headed by AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, for resuming the bus service being operated by state-run transport undertakings, including Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC), Punjab Roadways and Punbus.

In July 2018, the PRTC had started eight luxury air-conditioned buses from Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Hoshiarpur to and from Terminal 3 of the Delhi Airport. However, within a month, the Delhi government started issuing fines and banned the entry of these buses beyond the ISBT, citing permit issues.

PRTC authorities were then asked to get tourist permits to carry on with their service to the IGI Airport. “It is not financially viable for the PRTC to run these buses on tourist permits,” an official privy to the development said.

The PRTC buses were charging ₹787 per passenger from Patiala and ₹880 from Ludhiana, while private transport firms, mainly run by high-profile politicians, charge exorbitant prices ranging from ₹2,000 to ₹5,000.

K Siva Prasad, principal secretary, transport, Punjab, said meetings are already being held with the Delhi government after the state shared a detailed proposal with them.

“We have been told that the Delhi government plans to set up a special bus terminal at the IGI Airport for luxury buses, which will allow state buses to pick and drop foreign passengers,” he said, adding that the state government is hoping for a positive outcome from the ongoing negotiations.

After the Delhi government’s ban on the PRTC bus service at the airport, the Punjab transport department had written to its Delhi counterpart on August 31, 2019, requesting permission to PRTC buses to pick and drop passengers at the airport, but received no response. On October 7, last year, then transport minister Amarinder Singh Raja Warring had also written to Kejriwal to highlight the issue.