West Bengal govt to run buses on 40 routes from May 27 as more offices start functioning

The West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) has decided to run buses on 40 routes from Wednesday, as more government and private offices start functioning amid the coronavirus lockdown, an official said.

The buses, including air-conditioned ones, would run on various routes across the city as well as in the suburbs and districts from 7 am to 7 pm, a notification issued by the managing director of WBTC said.

The number of passengers would depend on the bus size, health and safety norms, it said.

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The WBTC had been operating skeletal bus services during the lockdown period on some popular routes for emergency purposes and health workers.

As offices started to reopen with reduced staff, the services were increased to 15 routes in the city to facilitate movement of commuters, officials said.

State government buses will also ply on some routes to and from Nadia, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts from Wednesday, the notification said.

Private bus operators have not resumed services after their demand for increasing fares were not met by the West Bengal government.

Autorickshaw operators, too, are undecided about recommencing operations with only two passengers as mandated by the state government.