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Resumption of bus service to Delhi airport: Delhi, Punjab authorities haven’t corresponded in two years
The Punjab transport authorities had written to Dehli’s transport department on August 31, 2019, requesting them to allow Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) buses to pick and drop passengers at the international airport. However, there has been no communication between the two departments since.
Though Punjab transport minister Amrinder Singh Raja Warring has slammed Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for disallowing state bus service to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, there has been no correspondence between the Punjab and Delhi transport authorities since 2019.
The Punjab transport authorities had written to Dehli’s transport department on August 31, 2019, requesting them to allow Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) buses to pick and drop passengers at the international airport. However, there has been no communication between the two departments since.
“PRTC has also not submitted any more representations to its counterpart since 2019. It was only after Raja Warring wrote to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on October 7 this year that the issue was highlighted,” an official said.
In July 2018, the PRTC had started eight luxury air-conditioned buses from Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Hoshiarpur to depart from terminal 3 of the Delhi Airport. However, within the month, the Delhi government started issuing fines and banned the entry of these buses beyond the ISBT, citing permit issues.
Warring, however, said that despite repeated reminders, the transport department was yet to get a response from Delhi authorities. Meanwhile, PRTC managing director Parneet Kaur Shergill said no fresh representations have been sent as both the departments are corresponding on state level.
PRTC authorities have been asked to get tourist permits to carry on with its services to IGI airport. “It is not financially viable for the PRTC to run these buses on tourist permits. PRTC only managed to generate revenue of ₹30 lakh in a month,” an official said.
The PRTC buses were charging ₹787 per passenger from Patiala and ₹880 from Ludhiana, while private players, mainly run by high profile politicians,charge exorbitant prices ranging from ₹1,500 to ₹4,000.
