Dream Team Sahara launch more city buses from Cuttack. Telegraph picture

Cuttack, July 21: Five more city buses will be included on the second route between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar from Friday. The new buses will run between Chahata in Cuttack and Master Canteen in Bhubaneswar.

Private bus operator Dream Team Sahara (DTS), which runs the city bus service in public-private-partnership mode, had earlier signed an MoU with the Bhubaneswar-Puri Transport Services Limited (BPTSL) for running 10 buses from the city. Now, five more buses will join the fleet. This has been done following the orders of Orissa High Court.

The buses will start the journey from Chahata and cover areas such as Biju Patnaik Park, Barabati Stadium, Mathamatha, Jobra Anicut, Medical Road, College Square, OMP Square and Badambadi.

“Residents of Cuttack city, who were earlier deprived of a proper city bus service, can avail the facility from Friday,” said DTS chairman Nishikant Mishra.

A passenger will have to pay a fare of Rs 15 for going to Master Canteen if he avails the bus from Badambadi. Similarly, the cost of fare up to Master Canteen from Chahata will be Rs 30, from Medical Road Rs 20 and from Barabati Stadium Rs 25.

Buses on this second route would be available every 45 minutes. The frequency of the service on the first route (Biju Patnaik Park to Indira Gandhi Park) is around 20 to 25 minutes.

“We hope that with the addition of five more buses in its fleet, the DTS will continue to provide better services to the passengers of the twin cities,” said Jivan Ray, 45, a passenger.

At present, around 79 buses are in operation in as many as nine routes in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Puri. A total of 84 buses of BPTSL have already been registered under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), said official sources.

The bus service was introduced in Bhubaneswar last October as a joint venture of DTS and BPTSL under the JNNURM.

Later, chief minister Naveen Patnaik had inaugurated the much awaited bus service from Cuttack on May 16 this year.

Though three routes were earlier identified — first from Biju Patnaik Park to Indira Gandhi Park, second from Chahata to Master Canteen, and third from Jagatpur to Master canteen — buses were operating only on the first route.

The first route between Biju Patnaik and Indira Gandhi Park covers areas such as CDA Sector-6, Eye Hospital, Sati Choura, Ring Road, Khannagar, Badambadi and Madhupatna.

“Earlier, we had to come to Badambadi to avail the bus service. But now, we can avail a direct bus either from College Square or Jobra,” said Bibhuti Swain, 37, a resident of Jobra.