Guwahati (GAU): the ASTC bus, and its short day
Assam State Transport runs air conditioned buses to Paltan Bazar and Khanapara for 100 rupees, but only until early afternoon.
- Assam State Transport Corporation runs the airport bus.
- The fare is 100 rupees on both routes.
- Paltanbazar to the airport: five departures a day, between 07:00 and 15:00.
- Khanapara to the airport: four departures a day, between 07:30 and 14:00.
- The buses are air conditioned premium coaches.
- The published journey times are long: 1.5 to 2.5 hours from Paltanbazar and 2.5 to 3 hours from Khanapara.
- The service is timetabled, not frequent. Miss the last one and there is no later bus.
- Paltan Bazar is next to Guwahati railway station, which makes it the useful end for onward travel.
- The bus was set up for airport staff as much as for passengers, which is why the timings suit a working day.
- Outside those hours a taxi or an app cab is the only option.
The ASTC bus
- Assam State Transport Corporation runs air conditioned premium buses between the airport and the city, on two routes.
- Both cost 100 rupees.
- Paltanbazar route: five departures a day, spread between 07:00 and 15:00.
- Khanapara route: four departures a day, between 07:30 and 14:00.
- ASTC publishes long journey times for both, 1.5 to 2.5 hours from Paltanbazar and 2.5 to 3 hours from Khanapara. Guwahati traffic is the reason.
The catch
- This is a timetable, not a frequency. Nine departures a day across two routes is what the service amounts to.
- The last bus of the day leaves in the middle of the afternoon. An evening arrival has no bus.
- It was introduced to move airport staff as well as passengers, which explains a timetable shaped around a working day rather than around flights.
- Check the current departure list before counting on it. With this few workings, one change to the timetable is the difference between a bus and no bus.
Where the routes go
- Paltan Bazar is the commercial centre and sits beside Guwahati railway station. For anyone continuing by train, that is the stop.
- Khanapara is on the south eastern edge, on the road towards Shillong, which is where a great many arrivals are heading.
- For Shillong itself, shared taxis and buses run from Khanapara, so the airport bus is the first leg of that journey rather than the whole of it.
The alternative
- Taxis and app cabs work at the airport and are the only option outside bus hours.
- The airport is at Borjhar, roughly 20 km west of the centre, so a road journey is a real one rather than a hop.
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