Kathmandu, April 28: Although the new bus park at Gongabu is operational for public transport, the lack of a separate bus park for tourist buses has caused problems. The government has considered the tourism sector as the economic backbone of the country, but tourists have been facing hardships because there is no separate bus park for vehicles departing from the federal capital to various tourist destinations.
Thousands of domestic and foreign tourists are forced to commute through Sohrakhutte Road daily due to the absence of a systematic bus park in Kathmandu for operating tourist buses. Tourist buses that have been operating on Kantipath road for nearly three decades have been parking and operating on the Sohrakhuutte road since 2018. Bhishma Neupane, President of the Tourist Bus Association of Nepal (TBAN) states that although TBAN has long been raising its voice for operating a separate tourist bus park, it has not been heard by the related authorities until now.
“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. Due to the lack of an effective bus terminal for tourists, the tourist vehicles have to park and stop haphazardly at various places in the city, which has given a negative impression on tourists.
Neupane said that tourists are facing problems due to the haphazard parking of tourist buses operating in Pokhara. He added that the lack of clear identification and functional categorization of tourist vehicles adds to the challenge. The inconsistency between the current Transport Act and the Tourism Act has resulted in policy confusion regarding the operation of tourist transport services. TBAN emphasized need for establishing secure, modern, and reliable tourism transport infrastructure to create a solid basis for fostering a sustainable, organized, and transparent tourism sector in Nepal.
The Kathmandu Metropolis has recently decided to manage the public transportation within from the New Bus Park area. Neupane stated that the development of a tourist Bus Park is not priority for the State. The lack of a dedicated ‘pick and drop’ service for tourist transport service has caused inconvenience to passengers, he added. While the government expresses a dedication to exploring the economic prosperity by enhancing tourism industry, the advancement of necessary infrastructure has not been given appropriate priority.
Kumar Mani Thapaliya, Chair of the Nepal Association of Tours and Travel Agents (NATTA) said that despite NATTA’s ongoing advocacy for the establishment of an advanced and well-equipped tourist bus park, their voices have persistently gone unacknowledged. Currently, around 100 tourist buses operate daily from Kathmandu to Pokhara and Sauraha in Chitwan, Lumbini, and Janakpur, transporting around 3,000-4,000 passengers.
In Sohrakhutte, they use the roadsides to pick up and drop passengers from 5:00 am to 7:00 pm, and at night, these vehicles are stationed at garages with a fee.
