Ayodhya Ram Mandir: Bus travel spikes ahead of inauguration, more services in offing

Demand for bus travel to Ayodhya has spiked by 120 percent versus last year on top online bus ticketing platform redBus.

Travel demand across segments is seeing an uptick from air to bus for Ayodhya ahead of the Ram Temple inauguration.

Demand for bus travel to Ayodhya has spiked by 120 percent versus last year on top online bus ticketing platform redBus.

There are 339 bus services connecting the sacred destination from various cities across India. Among these, the longest routes to Ayodhya include Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur, which takes approximately 40 hours to cover.

Additional buses are being added by both roadway buses (RTCs) as well as private bus operators to cater to the increasing demand, and so far about 25 new services have already been added, with more in the offing.

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Currently the cities of Jaipur, Chandigarh, Delhi, Dehradun, Indore and Patna run 130 services per day to Ayodhya. This number is expected to go up to 200 services per day soon.

The Uttar Pradesh government has launched a bus terminal called the Ayodhya Dham bus terminal which spans over 36,400 square meter, for passengers opting to travel by Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC).

“We are witnessing unprecedented demand for Ayodhya which is not surprising, given that the significance and magnitude of this occasion is attracting people from all over India. We are working continuously with UPSRTC and other partner bus operators to facilitate the smooth travel of devotees and making this occasion memorable for them,” said Prakash Sangam, CEO, redBus.

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Top intercity bus routes to Ayodhya, by volume include Delhi, Jaipur, Dehradun.

Top intrastate (Uttar Pradesh) routes include Varanasi, Lucknow, Prayagraj, Mathura, Agra.

Online travel platforms have seen significant uptick in searches for Ayodhya. The city recorded a 3x surge in searches on the travel platform Agoda ahead of the Ram Temple inauguration. Ayodhya also recorded an increase of close to 5x more searches for check-in on January 20, 21, and 22, 2024 as compared to the year before, according to data by Agoda.

Online travel aggregator (OTA) Ixigo's data shows more than a 100 percent increase in domestic flight searches week on week for Ayodhya since the launch of the new airport and more than a 60 percent week-on-week increase in train travel searches.