Chevrolet bus of Nepal Transport Service

Nepal Transport Service ( ne, नेपाल ट्रान्सपोर्ट सर्भिस) was the first, and for a time, the largest, Nepalese public bus line. The company was based in the capital

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

and operated from 1959 to 1966. Its head office was located at 122

Asan Asan () is a city in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. It borders the Seoul Capital Area to the north. Asan has a population of approximately 300,000. Asan is known for its many hot springs and is a city of spas. Asan has grown into th ...

Tyouda Tol, Kathmandu. The company was founded by proprietor Karuna Ratna Tuladhar (1920–2008) and

Lupau Ratna Tuladhar Lupau Ratna Tuladhar ( ne, लुपौरत्न तुलाधर) (22 June 1918 – 2 June 1993) was a Nepalese trader and transport pioneer. He and his brother Karuna Ratna Tuladhar established Nepal Transport Service in 1959 and operate ...

(1918–1993) of Kathmandu. The brothers were former merchants who operated an ancestral business house in

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhas ...

that conducted trade between

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

. Nepal Transport Service started as a trucking company in March 1959 hauling cargo between Kathmandu and the railhead of Amlekhganj near the Indian border, 190 kilometers to the south over

Tribhuvan Highway The Tribhuvan Highway () connects the outskirts of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, with Birganj/ Raxaul on the Nepal-India border. NH 28 and NH 28A links Raxaul with Lucknow/Barauni and other locations in India. History Known informally as ...

. It is the country's first highway which opened to jeep traffic in 1956, and was subsequently improved to handle larger vehicles.

Intercity service

In July 1959, Nepal Transport Service began a daily

intercity bus service An intercity bus service (North American English) or intercity coach service (British English and Commonwealth English), also called a long-distance, express, over-the-road, commercial, long-haul, or highway bus or coach service, is a public tr ...

between Kathmandu and Amlekhganj over the serpentine highway that went over two ranges of hills. The route started at Sundhara near

Dharahara Dharahara ( ne, धरहरा; or ), is a tower at the centre of Sundhara, Kathmandu, Nepal. It was first built in 1832 by ''Mukhtiyar'' (equivalent to Prime Minister) Bhimsen Thapa under the commission of Queen Lalit Tripurasundari and was ...

tower and exited the Kathmandu Valley at Thankot. It climbed over the

Mahabharat Range The Lower Himalayan Range ( ne, पर्वत शृङ्खला parbat shrinkhalā) – also called the Middle Himalayas or Lesser Himalayas or Himachal – is a major east–west mountain range with elevations 3,700 to 4,500 m (12,000 to ...

and descended to

Hetauda Hetauda ( ne, हेटौडा, ) is a sub-metropolitan city in the Makwanpur District of Bagmati Province in central Nepal. It is the administrative headquarters of the Makwanpur District and the capital of Bagmati Province as declared by m ...

and then went over the

Sivalik Hills The Sivalik Hills, also known as the Shivalik Hills and Churia Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas that stretches over about from the Indus River eastwards close to the Brahmaputra River, spanning the northern parts of the India ...

to Amlekhganj in the plains. Here, bus passengers transferred to the Nepal Government Railway (NGR) for their onward journey.

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. The bus stop in Kathmandu was located at the northwestern corner of

Rani Pokhari Rani Pokhari ( ne, रानी पोखरी; lit. queen's pond), originally known as Nhu Pukhu ( new, न्हू पुखू; lit. new pond), is a historic artificial pond located in the heart of Kathmandu, Nepal. The square-shaped tan ...

. In Patan, the bus made stops at Mangal Bazaar, Lagankhel and

Jawalakhel Jāwalākhel ( ne, जावलाखेल) is a subdivision of Lalitpur in Nepal. It is located 2 km from the ancient city centre Pātan, one of the three great capitals of Nepal until the 18th century. It derives its name from Jaulakhel ...

before returning to Kathmandu. The route was later shortened to Patan Dhoka, or Patan Gate, on the edge of the city. 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 Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

LP 312/36 buses manufactured by

TATA Engineering and Locomotive Company Tata or TATA may refer to: Places * Jamshedpur, a city in Jharkhand, India also known as Tatanagar or Tata * Tata, Hungary, a town in Hungary * Tata Islands, a pair of small islands off the coast of New Zealand * Tata, Morocco, a city in Tat ...

of India. * 4

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

SB4 buses manufactured by

Hindustan Motors Hindustan Motors is an Indian automotive manufacturer based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It is a part of the Birla Technical Services conglomerate. The company was the largest car manufacturer in India before the rise of Maruti Udyog. Hind ...

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 Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the ...

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. Breakdowns were common due to bad road conditions. 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. During the company's final years, it fought an unsuccessful court battle over increasing income tax despite falling revenues as more and more of its aging buses went out of service.

Postage stamp issued

On 31 December 2012, the Postal Services Department of the government of Nepal issued a commemorative postage stamp bearing portraits of the founders Karuna Ratna and Lupau Ratna Tuladhar to honor their service to the nation. The stamp also shows a Chevrolet bus of Nepal Transport Service.

Gallery

File:Asan house front.jpg,

The head office was located in this house.

File:Letterhead of Nepal Transport Service.jpg,

Letterhead

File:Visiting_card of Nepal Transport Service.jpg,

Visiting card

File:Nepal transport advertisement.jpg,

Ad in

Gorkhapatra ''Gorkhapatra'' () is the oldest Nepali language state-owned national daily newspaper of Nepal. It was started as a weekly newspaper in May 1901 and became a daily newspaper in 1961. It is managed by the Gorkhapatra Sansthan. ''The Rising Nepal ...

dated 23 December 1959.

File:Bus ticket of Nepal Transport Service.jpg,

Kathmandu-Amlekhgunj bus ticket

File:Nepal transport bus pass.jpg,

Bus pass

References

{{Reflist Bus transport in Nepal Bus operating companies Defunct transport companies of Nepal History of transport in Nepal Transport companies established in 1959 Companies disestablished in 1966 1959 establishments in Nepal 1966 disestablishments in Nepal