Yeida’s city bus service to start on Jan 18

One route will begin from Rabupura and end at Noida’s Botanical Garden Metro station, after passing through a 60m wide service road running parallel to Yamuna Expressway. The second route will begin from Greater Noida’s Sector Omega I, where the Yeida office is located, and end at Noida’s Botanical Garden Metro station

The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida) said on Wednesday that it has decided to start a city bus service, named ”Sarthi”, from Rabupura to Noida’s Botanical Garden Metro station and other areas with an aim to boost public transport facilities in its jurisdiction.

Initially, Yeida will run six buses on two routes, both ending at the Botanical Garden Metro station (Ht Photo)

The city bus service will start with six buses on Thursday morning on two routes and if the demand increases,then more buses will be added to the fleet, said Yeida officials.

One route will begin from Rabupura and end at Noida’s Botanical Garden Metro station, after passing through a 60m wide service road running parallel to Yamuna Expressway. The second route will begin from Greater Noida’s Sector Omega I, where the Yeida office is located, and end at Noida’s Botanical Garden Metro station after passing through busy areas of the Greater Noida city.

“The service will be started with an aim to provide a safe public transport system in areas being developed by Yeida so that they can travel to Noida and Greater Noida without facing any trouble. The general public and businessmen have been demanding a city bus service since the past many years,” said Shailendra Bhatia, officer on special duty, Yeida.

Yeida chief executive officer Arun Vir Singh on January 15, 2024, directed the staff to take necessary steps to start the bus service. Subsequently, Yeida’s officials roped in six buses from the Uttar Pradesh State Roadways and Transport Corporation to start the service.

Under the service, the fare between Noida’s Botanical Garden Metro station and Greater Noida’s Rabupura, a 52km stretch, will be finalised on Thursday. The bus service will be available at Botanical Garden, Sector 18, Amity University, Sector 135, Kondli, Pari Chowk, P-3 (Greater Noida), Yeida office, Gautam Buddha University and Dankaur, among others.

“The fare will be ₹1.3 per kilometre on this route and Yeida also will offer subsidies to passengers as the service is not for profit. Any financial loss will be borne by Yeida,” said a Yeida official, asking not to be named.

In 2015 and 2016, Yeida had started a similar bus service but it could not continue owing to permit issues.

“Yeida should run this service smoothly so that it provides safe and smooth commute to the general public. As of now, there is no public transport facility in many Yeida areas. There is a dire need for a robust public transport service as thousands of construction labourers, farmers and others depend on low cost public transport,” said Rishabh Nigam, president, Yamuna Expressway Entrepreneur Association.