PESHAWAR, Sept 3: The first Iran-bound bus, which was supposed to leave Peshawar for Tehran on Wednesday has been delayed, owing to the non-completion of travel documents of passengers, Pakistan-Iran Bus Service Manager, Ihsanullah told Dawn.

The bus service, to be operated by a private party would be first of its kind from Peshawar via Quetta to Iran, will begin its operations after the issuance of visas to the passengers by the Iranian Consulate.

“It would take another 10 days, because we also need 14 more passengers to fill the 44-seat air-conditioned bus,” said Mr Ihsan. According to him, the bus would start travelling from Peshawar and reach Tehran in three days.

The passengers would pay Rs 6,000 per person as two-way fare for a destination as lengthy as 3,500 kilometres. During the course of journey, the passengers would be provided two-night stay by the management. After the passengers pay visits to the holy shrines in different cities in Iran, the bus would leave for Peshawar via the same route.

He said the passengers would bear the expenses of their meals during the journey. So far, 30 tickets had been sold, of which eight were females who would be travelling along with the male members of their families.

Apart from the fare, the passengers are also required to pay Rs 1,600 as visa fee to the Iranian Consulate. Most of the travellers happened to be pilgrims, who routinely visited the holy shrines in Iran every year.

“We have started the service in order to facilitate the pilgrims, who frequently visit the cities of Iran to visit the holy shrines,” said the manager. Members of the Shia community would be at the advantage, because they would be travelling in a convoy and with comfort, he claimed.

Initially, there are two bus, the number of which could increased, provided the people show interest in the service. The service would get immense boost if the businessmen showed interest in developing links with Iran.