Varanasi roadways adds 185 festival buses; Gorakhpur route gets 72

VARANASI: The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) is running 185 additional buses from its Varanasi region for 12 days over the Diwali and Chhath travel period, raising the number of buses in service from the usual 146 to 331.

Return trips after Diwali and journeys home for Chhath push up demand on the busiest routes out of Varanasi. The extra services are meant to ease the crunch at bus stations for residents, students and workers heading to Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj and Delhi.

Where the buses run: The Varanasi-Gorakhpur route has the largest share, with 72 extra buses. The Varanasi-Lucknow route gets 31, Ghazipur-Lucknow-Kanpur 25 and Varanasi-Kanpur 13. For Chhath, one additional BS-6 bus from Ghazipur and two from Jaunpur will give those districts a direct service to Delhi. The corporation's regional manager has said trips will be increased further if needed.

At the station: Staff have been posted in shifts round the clock at the Chaudhary Charan Singh interstate bus station at Cantt to help passengers find the right bus and route information.

Details are from the UPSRTC Varanasi regional manager, as reported by Amar Ujala on 2 November and ETV Bharat on 5 November.