August 9: The government is preparing to operate express bus service from Bhaktapur’s Suryabinayak to Ratnapark in Kathmandu from upcoming September. Although the government is planning to launch the service from September 18, the plan is likely to be delayed by a few days as the preparation has been hampered by the rainfall, said officials at the  some works could not be done due to rain, but it may start after a few Department of Transport Management(DoTM).

DoTM Spokesperson Ishwar Datta Paneru said that the Department of Roads (DoR) has to complete its work on the Suryabinayak-Ratnapark Expressway first, and only after that the DoTM and other agencies will begin their work.

He said that the DoR will estimate the required section of the road and prepare the 'road marking'.

“After the road marking is completed, other works will not take much time,” said Paneru.

He added that the transport entrepreneurs are ready to provide vehicles and the traffic police will do the needful work.

"First of all, the works related to the road should be done. After that, a meeting will be held and a decision will be taken as to when the implementation will be done," said Paneru.

Looking at the current progress, the bus service to kick off on September 18 is less likely, said spokesperson Paneru. Due to the rainy season, the DoR has had some problems to complete its work.

Although the service will be launched in September, it is most likely to be done 8 to 10 days later than the earlier target, said Paneru.

The date from which the bus service will start depends on the work progress of the Department of Roads.

He said that the DoTM will work on coordination, cooperation and regulation. He said that preparations have been made to allocate lanes on both sides of the road for the express service.

The government had announced to make arrangement for the operation of express bus service as passengers were struggling to reach their destination on time through public transport due to heavy traffic.

In the first phase, express buses will be operated from Bhaktapur's Suryabinayak to Ratnapark. The department said that it can be operated on other routes in the future.

The ministry is going to start fast bus service by selecting buses from private companies with good condition and capacity. For now, the express bus service will be operated from 9 am to 11 am and from 4 pm to 6 pm during peak traffic hours, the ministry said. For that, about 25 buses with more than 40 seats will be put into operation.