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Trolley Buses Mocking the Government from Junkyard

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Trolley Buses Mocking the Government from Junkyard
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March 5: “I am the future, save me!”, reads the inscription on trolley buses which are dumped in the junkyard of the Department of Transportation Management, Minbhawan.

The quote, written on 32 buses dumped on the premises of the department, is mocking the transportation management of the country. Trolley buses – once a major means of transportation – are now confined to the history books. The rope lines of the eco-friendly trolley buses are still visible in the core areas of Kathmandu. As the buses are dumped in the junkyard, the dream of Kathmanduities to ride trolley buses is not possible anytime soon.

The trolley bus service was started in 1975 in the capital with a grant of Rs 40 million from the Chinese government. During the initial period, 22 trolley buses operated from Tripureshwar to Surya Binayak, Bhaktapur. In 1996, additional ten trolley buses operated in different routes of the capital. But, in 2008, the service came to an abrupt end.

Knowledgeable sources say power-cuts were the main reason behind the fall out of trolley buses in the capital.

Meanwhile, the eighth five-year plan (1992-1997) of the National Planning Commission had proposed expanding the routes of trolley bus service from Tripureshwar to Kirtipur, and Thapathali to Pulchowk via Patandhoka. But the plan could not materialize.

After the unofficial blockade by the Indian government in 2015, the then prime minister KP Sharma Oli had announced to revive the bus service. But, later the government itself scrapped the committee formed to promote trolley bus service in the country.

The Asian Development Bank had also publicized a report to operate new trolley bus service in the capital. But, the report was also not implemented.  

 

 

 

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