Tourists forced to board buses on busy roads due to lack of dedicated bus park in Kathmandu

KATHMANDU: Kathmandu’s tourist transport system is in disarray since there is no separate bus park for tourist coaches. This has forced thousands of domestic and foreign visitors to board and alight on busy city roads.

Around 100 tourist buses operate daily from Kathmandu to Pokhara, Sauraha in Chitwan, Lumbini and Janakpur, carrying about 3,000 to 4,000 passengers, but there is no systematic bus park in the federal capital for vehicles serving tourist destinations.

The New Bus Park at Gongabu is operational for public transport, but it does not include a dedicated facility for tourist buses. Kathmandu Metropolitan City has recently decided to manage public transport from the New Bus Park area, yet tourist operators say their needs remain unaddressed.

Tourist buses that operated on Kantipath for nearly three decades have been parking and operating on Sohrakhutte Road since 2018. Thousands of tourists are forced to commute through Sohrakhutte Road daily due to the absence of a proper tourist bus park.

In Sohrakhutte, drivers use the roadsides to pick up and drop passengers from 5:00 am to 7:00 pm, and at night, the vehicles are stationed at garages for a fee. The lack of an effective terminal means tourist vehicles park and stop haphazardly at various places across the city, causing inconvenience to passengers and giving a poor impression to visitors.

Bhishma Peasad Neupane, president of Tourist Bus Association of Nepal (TBAN), said the association has long campaigned for a separate tourist bus park but has not been heard by the relevant authorities. “We have already informed various bodies concerned about potential sites for the construction of a tourist bus park, but as they have shown no interest, the tourist bus park has not materialised,” he said.

TBAN President Neupane added that tourists are facing problems because of the haphazard parking of tourist buses operating in Pokhara and that the lack of clear identification and functional categorisation of tourist vehicles compounds the challenge. He said the development of a tourist bus park is not a priority for the State and that the absence of a dedicated pick-and-drop service has caused further inconvenience to passengers.

Kumar Mani Thapaliya, president of Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA), said the association has repeatedly advocated for an advanced, well-equipped tourist bus park, but their appeals have gone unacknowledged.

Officials and industry representatives point to legal and policy confusion as another obstacle, saying inconsistency between the current Transport Act and the Tourism Act has resulted in unclear policy on the operation of tourist transport services.

Meanwhile, TBAN has emphasised the need to establish secure, modern and reliable tourism transport infrastructure to provide a sustainable, organised and transparent basis for the tourism sector. While the government says tourism is the economic backbone of the country and expresses commitment to boosting the industry, industry leaders say the advancement of necessary infrastructure has not been given appropriate priority.

(With inputs from RSS)