Bus fares on 13 south-west routes go up

The government has increased the bus fares on 13 long routes from Dhaka to different south-western districts for an interim period with effect from June 26.

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority on Tuesday increased the long-route bus fares on these routes between Tk 10 and Tk 11 taking the toll rate for using Padma Bridge into consideration.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the much-awaited Padma Bridge on June 25 at 10:00am.

The bridge will be open for traffic the next day, said Road Transport and Bridges minister Obaidul Quader.

The bus fares on these routes would be raised further after the government fixed the toll rates for using the Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga expressway, officials said.

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority chairman Nur Mohammad Mazumder told New Age on Wednesday that they had fixed new bus fares considering toll rates of different bridges on the rivers Padma, Buriganga, Dhaleswari, and Arial Khan.

Considering every bus 40-seated, Tk 1.8 fare per kilometre has been fixed, he said.

The bus fare on Dhaka-Barishal route was raised to Tk 412.32 from Tk 402, on Dhaka-Gopalganj route Tk 504.21 from Tk 494, on Dhaka-Khulna route Tk 649.36 from Tk 639, on Dhaka-Shariatpur route Tk 218.53 from Tk 208, on Dhaka-Pirojpur route Tk 534.2 from Tk 524, on another Dhaka-Pirojpur route Tk 628.25 from Tk 618, on Dhaka-Patuakhali route Tk 501.52 from Tk 491, on Dhaka-Madaripur route Tk 327.5 from Tk 317, on Dhaka-Satkhira Tk 633 from Tk 623, on Dhaka-Faridpur route Tk 288.39 from Tk 278, on Dhaka-Bhola route Tk 653.86 from Tk 644, on another Dhaka-Shariatpur route Tk 219.88 from Tk 209 and on Dhaka-Kuakata route Tk 694.29 from Tk 684.

All of these buses will start running from Saidabad inter-district bus terminal in Dhaka.

Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association on May 31 submitted a letter to the BRTA requesting re-fix of bus fares on the routes via Padma Bridge, considering the toll rates for using the bridge and the expressway.

Earlier on May 17, the government fixed toll rates for using the Padma Bridge through a gazette notification.

The toll ranged from Tk 100 to over Tk 6,000 for different vehicles.

BRTA chairman Nur Mohammad Mazumder said that they had already requested the bus owners to apply for route permits if any company intended to run additional buses on these routes using the bridge.

But no new bus company has applied for a route permit so far, he said.

Replying to a question, the BRTA chairman said that long-route buses from Gabtoli would not be allowed to run through the capital.

Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association secretary general Khandaker Enayet Ullah told New Age on Wednesday none applied so far for route permits to use Padma Bridge from the Gabtoli bus stand.

From Gabtoli inter-district bus terminal long route buses go to these districts via Paturia.

News Courtesy:

https://www.newagebd.net/article/172744/bus-fares-on-13-south-west-routes-go-up