Nepal Transport Service

1959 model Chevrolet Viking bus of Nepal Transport Service shown in 1961.

Hairpin bends known as Sat Ghumti on the Tribhuvan Highway which connects Kathmandu with the Indian border.

Nepal Transport Service operated a daily bus service connecting Kathmandu and Amlekhganj which lies between Hetauda and Birganj to the south.

Nepal Transport Service was the first Nepalese public bus line.^[1] The company was based in the capital Kathmandu and operated from 1959 to 1966. Its head office was located at 122 Asan Tyouda Tol, Kathmandu.

History

Nepal Transport Service started as a trucking company in March 1959 hauling cargo between Kathmandu and the railhead of Amlekhganj,^[2] 190 kilometers to the south near the Indian border over Tribhuvan Highway. It is the country's first highway which opened to jeep traffic in 1956^[3] and was subsequently improved to handle larger vehicles.

Intercity service

In July 1959, Nepal Transport Service began a daily intercity bus service between Kathmandu and Amlekhganj over the serpentine mountain highway.^[4] The route started at Sundhara^[5] near Dharahara tower and exited the Kathmandu Valley at Thankot and then climbed over the Mahabharat Range and Sivalik Hills before descending to Hetauda and Amlekhganj. Here, bus passengers transferred to train for their onward journey.^[6]

Urban transportation

In September 1959, Nepal Transport Service started a local bus service between Kathmandu and Patan (Lalitpur), one of the three cities in the Kathmandu Valley, marking the beginning of urban transportation in Nepal.^[7] The bus stop in Kathmandu was located at the northwestern corner of Rani Pokhari. In Patan, the bus made stops at Mangal Bazaar, Lagankhel and Jawalakhel before returning to Kathmandu. The route was later shortened to Patan Dhoka, or Patan Gate, on the edge of the city.^[8] In addition to its main Kathmandu-Patan service, Nepal Transport Service operated on various short-lived routes in the Kathmandu Valley.

Routes

Long distance

• Kathmandu-Amlekhganj (bus and truck service)
• Kathmandu-Trishuli (truck service, April 1962)

Local

• Rani Pokhari-Patan Dhoka (1959-1966)
• Lainchaur-Jawalakhel (August-September 1962)
• Rani Pokhari-Gaushala (July 1963-July 1964)
• Rani Pokhari-Balaju (August 1963-May 1964)
• Rani Pokhari-Maharajgunj (April-May 1964)

Fleet and livery

At its height, Nepal Transport Service owned a fleet of 11 buses and two trucks.

• 5 Tata Mercedes-Benz LP 312/36 buses manufactured by TATA Engineering and Locomotive Company of India.
• 4 Bedford SB4 buses manufactured by Hindustan Motors of India.
• 2 Chevrolet Viking buses manufactured by Hindustan Motors of India.
• 2 Tata Mercedes-Benz trucks.

The buses of Nepal Transport Service were painted a dark blue with the company name written in Devanagari on one side and English on the other on a white band below the windows.

Dissolution

Nepal Transport Service went out of business in 1966, no longer able to sustain the losses resulting from frequent downtime. Major maintenance had to be done in India, and unavailability of spare parts locally for its diverse fleet meant its buses were out of commission for extended periods.^[9]

The founders

Nepal Transport Service was founded by proprietor Karuna Ratna Tuladhar (1920-2008) and Lupau Ratna Tuladhar (1918-1993) of Kathmandu. The brothers were former merchants^[10] who operated an ancestral business house in Lhasa, Tibet and Kolkata, India which remained in operation till 1964.

Gallery

• 

  Nepal Transport Service bus stop, Rani Pokhari.
• 

  Ad in Gorkhapatra dated 6 January 1960.
• 

  Kathmandu-Amlekhgunj bus ticket
• 

  Letterhead
• 

  Visiting card

References

1. ^ Tuladhar, Kamal Ratna (26 September 2008). "Nepal took the bus half a century ago". The Kathmandu Post. http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2008/09/28/expression/nepal-took-the-bus-a-half-century-ago/162128/. Retrieved 24 January 2011. 
2. ^ Shrestha, Surya Bahadur (2008). "Railway Development In Nepal". The Rising Nepal. http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/gopa.detail.php?article_id=18466&cat_id=10. Retrieved 21 February 2011. 
3. ^ Department of Roads, Ministry of Physical Planning and Works. "Project Profile of Priority Projects along the Asian Highway". http://www.unescap.org/ttdw/common/TIS/AH/files/profiles/nepal.pdf. Retrieved 21 February 2011. 
4. ^ "1959 Chevrolet Viking Bus - Nepal Transport". Classic Bus Depot.com. http://www.classicbusdepot.com/bus-photos/99_0_1_0_C/. Retrieved 18 February 2011. 
5. ^ Gorkhapatra (6 January 1960). Page 3.
6. ^ "Indian Railways Fan Club". http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-inter.html#nepal. Retrieved 6 February 2011. 
7. ^ Poudel, Keshab (November 2003). "Big Wheels Keep on Turnin'". ECS NEPAL. http://www.ecs.com.np/feature_detail.php?f_id=332. Retrieved 20 February 2011. 
8. ^ Shrestha, Bijaya Lal (11 August 1989). "All Those Years Ago: A trip through the early days of bus transport", The Rising Nepal.
9. ^ Tuladhar, Kamal Ratna (26 September 2008). "Nepal took the bus half a century ago". The Kathmandu Post. http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2008/09/28/expression/nepal-took-the-bus-a-half-century-ago/162128/. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
10. ^ Lewis, Todd T.. "Buddhism, Himalayan Trade, and Newar Merchants". http://buddhim.20m.com/8-4.htm/. Retrieved 18 February 2011.