Nepal–India Cross-Border Bus Services: Routes, Operators & How to Travel

Nepal and India share an open border of roughly 1,850 kilometres, and citizens of both countries may cross it without passports or visas under the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship. For decades, however, no legal framework let a bus registered in one country carry fare-paying passengers deep into the other: travellers had to change vehicles at border towns such as Sunauli (Belahiya) or Kakarbhitta. That changed with the bilateral Motor Vehicle Agreement for Passenger Traffic, signed in Kathmandu during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 25–27 November 2014 (Mangsir 2071 BS) visit for the 18th SAARC Summit.

The agreement, modelled on the draft SAARC motor vehicles agreement, provides for regular bus services on agreed routes, trips and timetables on a reciprocal basis, and also simplifies procedures for private vehicles crossing the border. According to India's Press Information Bureau, services were to commence on three routes in the first instance: Kathmandu–Sunauli–Gorakhpur–Lucknow–New Delhi, Kathmandu–Sunauli–Azamgarh–Varanasi, and Pokhara–Sunauli–New Delhi. During the same visit the two prime ministers flagged off the first Kathmandu–Delhi service, branded the 'Pashupatinath Express'.

The network has grown steadily since. On the Indian side, services are run by state undertakings — the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC), Bihar State Road Transport Corporation (BSRTC), North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) and Uttarakhand Transport Corporation. On the Nepali side, private operators affiliated with the Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNNTE) run matching services under permits from the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) and its Department of Transport Management. By 2022, the Siliguri–Kathmandu service was counted as the eleventh route approved under the 2014 agreement.

The Kathmandu to Delhi bus is the longest and best-known cross-border service, covering about 1,250 kilometres in roughly 30 hours. DTC launched its Delhi–Kathmandu–Delhi international service on 25 November 2014, running air-conditioned coaches with 2x2 seating from the Dr. Ambedkar Stadium Bus Terminal near Delhi Gate. On the Nepali side, FNNTE-affiliated operators run the mirror service, with Kathmandu boarding points around Gaushala near Pashupatinath and stops at locations including Chabahil, Gongabu New Bus Park, Swayambhu and Kalanki; DTC lists Swayambhu as its Kathmandu point.

The route runs Delhi–Agra–Firozabad–Kanpur–Lucknow–Ayodhya–Gorakhpur to the Sunauli border, where customs and document checks are carried out, and then continues through Bhairahawa (Belahiya), Butwal, Kawasoti, Narayangadh (Bharatpur) and Mugling to Kathmandu. As of DTC's published schedule, the bus departs Delhi at 10:00 AM Indian Standard Time and Kathmandu at 9:00 AM Nepal Time, with scheduled meal and rest halts at Firozabad, Ayodhya (Faizabad) and Mugling.

DTC's published one-way fare is INR 2,800 for passengers aged five and above (children under two travel free without a seat); fares are periodically revised, so confirm before travelling. Tickets can be booked up to 60 days in advance at the Ambedkar Stadium terminal on production of original identity documents, and passengers must report at least one hour before departure. Baggage is limited to one suitcase of up to 25 kilograms plus a shoulder bag, with one cabin handbag allowed on board.

The Kathmandu–Varanasi route — heavily used by pilgrims in both directions — was the second service to open. The 'Bharat–Nepal Maitri Bus Sewa' (India–Nepal Friendship Bus Service) began in early March 2015 (Falgun 2071 BS), with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav flagging off the UPSRTC bus in Varanasi and Nepali minister Bimalendra Nidhi and Indian Ambassador Ranjit Rae flagging off the Nepali bus in Kathmandu. The Varanasi Kathmandu bus follows the Kathmandu–Bhairahawa–Sunauli–Azamgarh–Varanasi alignment, covering about 600 kilometres in around 12 hours; UPSRTC's launch fare was about INR 2,100.

Bihar joined the network in September 2018 (Bhadra 2075 BS), when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar flagged off an air-conditioned deluxe service linking Bodh Gaya and Patna with Kathmandu. The 45-seat Kathmandu–Bodh Gaya bus covers roughly 660 kilometres in about 16 hours, leaving Kathmandu in the evening (around 7:00 PM at launch) and reaching Bodh Gaya via Patna the next morning — making it the practical answer for anyone searching for a Kathmandu Patna bus. It was reported as the fifth cross-border service operating from the Nepal side at the time.

Janakpur, the Ramayana pilgrimage city in Madhesh Province, gained two links of its own. On 11 May 2018 (Baisakh 2075 BS), Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and KP Sharma Oli jointly flagged off a direct Janakpur–Ayodhya bus as part of the two governments' Ramayana Circuit initiative, connecting the birthplace of Sita with the birthplace of Ram. A regular Janakpur–Patna service followed from 16 September 2018, with BSRTC deploying luxury buses on the roughly 210-kilometre, six-hour route.

In the east, the Siliguri–Kakarbhitta–Kathmandu corridor links Nepal with North Bengal's transport hub, the gateway to Darjeeling, Sikkim and India's northeast. A Kathmandu–Siliguri 'friendship bus' was first introduced in August 2019; after pandemic-era suspension, the current service — run jointly by the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) and private partner Urban Paribahan Services — was inaugurated in July 2022 (2079 BS) as the eleventh approved route. The bus leaves Siliguri's Tenzing Norgay Bus Terminus in the afternoon, crosses the Panitanki–Kakarbhitta border, and reaches Kathmandu's Swayambhu bus park the next morning, covering 488 kilometres in around 17 hours; the launch fare was about INR 2,000.

In the far west, Mahendranagar (Bhimdatta) was connected to New Delhi in late January 2016 (Magh 2072 BS), when the Mahakali Transport Entrepreneurs Committee partnered with the Uttarakhand Transport Corporation and UPSRTC. The roughly 375-kilometre route crosses the Mahakali River at the Banbasa–Gaddachauki border, where barrage-bridge crossing hours are restricted, so services were launched as night buses (departing Mahendranagar around 6:00 PM and Delhi around 8:00 PM) with a launch fare of INR 570.

Two further corridors round out the network. A direct Pokhara–New Delhi service began on 11 July 2016 (Asar 2073 BS) as a joint initiative of Nepal's Modern Era Tours and Travels and UPSRTC's Ghaziabad depot, launching with eight deluxe buses, four from each side. In the mid-west, Nepalgunj is linked across the Jamunaha–Rupaidiha border: a Nepalgunj–Delhi service was flagged off by the then Province 5 chief minister, and regular buses also connect Nepalgunj with Lucknow, about 182 kilometres away — the shortest big-city hop on the whole network.

Every sanctioned route is run reciprocally: an Indian and a Nepali operator each field buses under permits issued by their own government, generally in equal numbers. Indian operators are public-sector state road transport corporations plus Delhi's DTC; on the Nepali side, MoPIT licenses private companies and committees, most affiliated with FNNTE, the umbrella federation of Nepali transport entrepreneurs, which also handles Kathmandu ticketing counters for the Delhi service.

This dual structure matters practically. Tickets for the Indian corporation's buses are sold through that corporation's counters and, on several routes, Indian online portals, while the Nepali operator's buses are booked through counters in Nepal. Fares, bus quality and timings on the same route can differ slightly between the two sides.

For Nepali and Indian citizens the paperwork is light: no passport or visa is required, but bus operators demand a valid government-issued photo identity document. DTC specifies a passport or voter identity card; in practice Nepali citizens also travel on the citizenship certificate at land crossings, but carry the document named by your operator, since the same ID is checked at purchase, boarding and the border. Children without their own ID should carry a birth certificate and travel with a documented guardian.

Citizens of third countries can use these buses but need a valid passport, an Indian visa obtained in advance (India does not issue visas on arrival at land borders), and a Nepali visa, which most nationalities can obtain on arrival at major land immigration points including Belahiya (Sunauli), Kakarbhitta, Gaddachauki and Jamunaha (Nepalgunj). Crucially, foreigners must get exit and entry stamps at the immigration offices on both sides of the border — buses halt at crossings such as Sunauli for exactly this purpose, alongside customs checks of luggage.

Money needs planning because of Nepal Rastra Bank's currency rules: Indian rupee notes circulate widely in the Nepali border belt, but denominations above INR 100 (the INR 200, 500 and 2,000 notes) are not legal to carry or exchange in Nepal. The Nepali rupee has been pegged at NPR 1.60 per INR 1 since 1993 (2049/50 BS), so conversion is straightforward; carry small INR notes or use banks and licensed money changers.

Booking channels depend on whose bus you ride. DTC sells Delhi–Kathmandu tickets at the Dr. Ambedkar Stadium terminal up to 60 days ahead, against original documents and photocopies; in Kathmandu, FNNTE-linked counters around Gaushala and Swayambhu sell the Nepali-side buses. UPSRTC, BSRTC and NBSTC services can generally be booked at their city bus stations and, for several routes, through Indian online platforms. Cancellation rules on DTC are graded: no refund within 24 hours of departure, 50 percent between 24 and 72 hours, and 75 percent earlier than that.

Build slack into your plans. These are long road journeys — 30 hours to Delhi, around 16 to Bodh Gaya, 17 from Siliguri — and monsoon landslides on the Narayanghat–Mugling section, plus winter fog in the Tarai and North Indian plains, routinely add hours. All cross-border services were suspended in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed in phases from late 2021 and 2022, with schedules adjusted since, so always reconfirm departure days and times with the operator shortly before travel.

If direct buses are sold out or timings do not suit, the border-hop alternative remains cheaper and frequent: take a domestic Nepali bus to Bhairahawa/Sunauli, Kakarbhitta, Nepalgunj or Mahendranagar, cross the border on foot or by rickshaw, and continue on Indian buses or trains from Gorakhpur, Siliguri, Rupaidiha or Banbasa. This is how most migrant workers actually travel, but the through-buses spare you midnight border transfers, touts and luggage hauling — usually worth the premium for families, elderly travellers and pilgrims.