Old bus stand slated for redevelopment, UPSRTC to relocate buses to Sahibabad

The officials of the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transportation Corporation (UPSRTC) have started preparations for relocating their buses from the old bus stand near Navyug Market to their bus terminal facility in Sahibabad. They said the relocation was necessitated due to a redevelopment project at the old bus stand, but the high rates of rent prevented them from relocating elsewhere.

The state government in June 2023 approved the redevelopment plan of different bus terminals across the state. These include two major bus stations at ISBT Kaushambi, spread over 24,284 square metres, and old bus stand in Ghaziabad, which is spread over 10,000 square metres.

The redevelopment project involves a cost of about ₹261 crore for the facility at Kaushambi and ₹125 crore for the old bus stand.

“We wrote to our headquarters that land rental was too high, and so they gave us permission to relocate buses to Sahibabad bus terminal. In all, 53 buses will be shifted to Sahibabad terminal, which is adjacent to the RRTS station. These buses majorly operate on a per kilometre basis and mostly ply short distance to Meerut and Bulandshahr,” said Kesri Nandan Chaudhary, regional manager, UPSRTC.

The officials had told HT in December last year that Ghaziabad municipal corporation had sought a rent of ₹19 crore for three years for providing land in Arthala.

The rate was too high for the UPSRTC, which had an annual revenue of about ₹43 crore in the region and was unable to incur expenses of about ₹39 crore.

“Before relocating the buses, we plan to enhance the basic facilities at Sahibabad terminal,” Chaudhary said.

The proposed Sahibabad location is about 10 kilometres from the Old bus stand. The daily passengers say that it will become cumbersome for them to go to Sahibabad and then proceed to their respective destinations.

“The relocation will pose difficulty for women passengers as they get a seat from old bus stand. Now, they will have to go to Sahibabad to get a seat or board the bus midway. Further, the cost of travelling will also increase. Commuters from Sahibabad and trans-Hindon, on the other hand, will benefit from the shift,” said Sushil Kumar, a resident of Karkar Model in Sahibabad.

UPSRTC officials said the high rental cost of land may force them to take similar steps when redevelopment work for ISBT Kaushambi starts.

They said they may have to relocate long-distance buses from Kaushambi to ISBT Anand Vihar or even ISBT Kashmere Gate in Delhi. And, the short distance buses may be shifted to nearby UPSRTC office in Kaushambi.

The redevelopment plan of the bus station would include complete revamp and provision of airport-like facilities such as commercial complexes, malls, food chains, retail outlets, parking for passengers, hotels and other facilities, officials said.

The Sahibabad bus station itself has been chosen for redevelopment purpose along with Kanpur Central, Mirzapur, Varanasi Cant, among others, and technical bids will be evaluated soon, the UP information department said in a statement on July 9.