Take your pick: Pre-puja bus ride to Siliguri comes for 5,000, flight costs 10,500; train berths sold out

Time of India

11 hours ago

Kolkata: A pre-Durga Puja bus ride from Kolkata to Siliguri may cost you between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000, a bus seat booking app shows. Till 10 days ago, airfares were not much higher, with a Kolkata-Bagdogra flight ticket priced at Rs 5,800-Rs 6,000.
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At present, airfares have shot up to Rs 8,500-Rs 10,500. These fares are applicable between Sept 24 and 26. Train berths for the dates are already sold out.
The regular fare for such buses, as recommended by STA, is Rs 1,300-Rs 1,500. However, on an average, tickets are available between Rs 1,800 and Rs 2,500 during normal times. Highlighting this anomaly in fares, bus lovers' group Kolkata Bus-o-pedia has approached the state, requesting a stop to this exploitation.
Transport department sources said they will meet private long-distance bus operators in this regard soon.
"Why should reaching home during Durga Puja cost a fortune? Thousands in Bengal plan visits home — from Kolkata to Siliguri, from Howrah to Cooch Behar, and across districts — during puja. For many, this is the only time of the year they get to reunite with family. With train berths sold out months ago and flights often unaffordable, private buses are the only option for many.
But this necessity is being exploited by a few private operators, who are charging Rs 5,000 for a Volvo bus ticket from Kolkata to Siliguri — a 574-km route that should normally cost around Rs 1,300 to Rs 1,500, according to STA guidelines," said Aniket Banerjee, general secretary, Kolkata Bus-o-pedia.
The group also provided a comparative fare analysis. "The pre-puja fare translates to around Rs 8-Rs 8.5 per km with over 40 seats still vacant on each bus.
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In comparison, the Kolkata-Indore Volvo Sleeper fare on Sept 24 to 26 is Rs 3,800, translating to Rs 2.3/km for the 1,620-km trip. Even the Jodhpur-Bengaluru Volvo, one of the longest bus routes in the country at 1,940 km, has a fare of Rs 2,550, translating to Rs 1.3/km.
So why are people being asked to pay 3-4 times more to travel less than one-third of that distance? Some operators are still offering Kolkata-Siliguri Volvo tickets at Rs 2,000 on peak dates — proving fair pricing is possible, even in the festive season" the group posted on Facebook.
"While dynamic pricing may be justified to an extent, what we're witnessing here is blatant profiteering," Banerjee said. The Kolkata Bus-o-pedia community has urged the transport department to immediately step in and "introduce an upper fare cap in peak seasons, regulate private bus operators through checks and penalties, and ensure durable, affordable public transport remains accessible to all".
Experts associated with the transport system explain that the practice of increasing ticket prices based on demand is known as "dynamic fare".
"Dynamic fare is also applied to flight tickets. This system allows those who book tickets well in advance to get them at a relatively lower price. Additionally, ticket prices are increased on weekends and other holidays," said an operator at Esplanade.
Arun Kumar Ghosh, owner of Shyamoli Transport, said, "It is not possible to operate vehicles at govt-determined fares because the maintenance cost of AC Volvo buses is very high, and fuel prices are continuously rising. That's why we have dynamic fares. Flight fares on the same route are not the same every day. Even for trains, fares vary with Tatkal and Premium Tatkal bookings. Why should buses be an exception?"
But most leading operators clarified none of their tickets are ever as exorbitant as in the range of Rs 4,000-Rs 5,000 so early before the pujas.