Onlykashmir.in News Desk
The Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation’s Srinagar-Delhi bus service has remained off the road for over a month, leaving regular commuters at the mercy of private operators charging steeply higher fares for the same journey.
According to passengers who use the route frequently, JKSRTC buses have not plied between Srinagar and Delhi since May 25, a gap that has pushed students, traders, patients and daily wage travellers toward privately run buses that continue to operate without interruption. The lapse in the state-run service has triggered visible resentment among commuters, many of whom questioned why a public transport undertaking funded by taxpayers would stay parked while private players capitalised on the vacuum it left behind. Several commuters alleged that the suspension has effectively handed the route over to private operators at the cost of affordable travel for ordinary people.
Sources within the corporation indicate that the two buses earlier deployed on the Srinagar-Delhi corridor have been sitting idle at the JKSRTC yard for over a month and are now expected to be redirected toward Amarnath Yatra duties, a seasonal diversion that has further delayed any prospect of the route resuming on its original schedule.
The fallout has not been limited to passengers alone. Sources also point to a quiet exodus of consolidated drivers from the corporation, several of whom have reportedly switched to private transport companies offering better pay, a trend that risks further weakening JKSRTC’s operational capacity if left unaddressed.
For hundreds of weekly travellers, the Srinagar-Delhi RTC service has long served as one of the few affordable and dependable long-distance options connecting the Valley to the national capital. Its prolonged absence strikes directly at low and middle-income commuters who cannot easily absorb the cost difference charged by private operators.
Commuters have urged the government to restore the service without further delay, arguing that a public transport undertaking exists precisely to provide such routes regardless of seasonal diversions or staffing pressures. Despite repeated attempts to seek an official response, Transport Minister Satish Sharma could not be reached for comment on the matter.
