Ahead of Dashain festival, advance bus ticket booking starts in Nepal

Kathmandu (Nepal), Sep 28 (ANI): Ahead of Dashain festival, transport operators of Nepal on Monday started window of advance booking of tickets to facilitate students and people involved in various professions in Kathmandu to travel to their home districts outside the capital. The fortnightly festival celebrates will fall on October 7. Passengers who will be travelling to the far edged nooks and corners of the Himalayan nation reached the ticket counters to book their seats in advance. The advance booking has started from today. Scores of people seen waiting in queue in front of the ticket counters selling tickets to places like Dhangadhi, Tikapur, Bajhang, Bajura in the west and Siraha, Saptari, and many more cities in the east. Last year, the advance ticket booking was not opened due to the high risk of COVID-19. However, this year it has been opened well in time in the run-up to the festivals. Bringing onto changes from this year, passengers have been issued both hand-written and e-tickets. Health safety protocols as social distancing and the like have been followed while issuing the tickets to passengers. At present, bus tickets are being issued from 32 ticket counters through the computerised system. According to the Department of Transport Management (DoTM), transport entrepreneurs have opened the service for medium-distance and long-distance travellers. According to the DoTM, the authority has not changed the fares of transport service during the festival.