Intercity Bus Bookings Double on Key India Routes: Zingbus

Bus travel across India is seeing a dramatic uptick this summer, with intercity mobility platform Zingbus reporting passenger bookings more than doubling year on year across key routes in North, South and West India. The surge is being driven largely by younger travellers who are increasingly treating weekends and long weekends as opportunities for short breaks rather than waiting for annual holidays or festival seasons. Industry figures suggest the shift marks a fundamental change in how Indians plan and take leisure trips, Autocar Professional has reported.

Zingbus said demand began climbing earlier than in previous years and has remained elevated throughout the summer months -- a pattern the company attributes to this new appetite for frequent, shorter journeys rather than one or two big trips a year.

The travel boom is not confined to buses. Indian Railways has scheduled more than 18,000 special train services between April and July 2026 to cope with the seasonal crush, reflecting the scale of pressure now falling on intercity transport networks across the country.

Zingbus was quoted as saying that rocketing airfares and scarce availability on other modes of transport are pushing more passengers towards buses, particularly for journeys of between 200 km and 600 km. The appeal of affordable fares, frequent departures and door-to-door routing has made bus travel an increasingly attractive proposition during peak periods.

Established corridors in North India -- including Delhi to Nainital and Delhi to Shimla -- each recorded growth in excess of 100 per cent. However, the company said the sharpest acceleration came from routes across South and West India, with corridors serving Goa, Kochi, Visakhapatnam, Kanyakumari, Madurai, Thanjavur and Tirupati among the fastest-growing.

Ahead of the season, the platform expanded capacity and increased bus frequency on high-demand routes, including services to hill stations, coastal leisure destinations and pilgrimage sites. 

The company said its scheduling and capacity decisions are informed by real-time booking data and demand trends at the route level.

Founded as an intercity bus platform, the company says it has now carried more than 3.5 million passengers across upwards of 300 cities in more than 20 states, operating through partnerships with over 270 bus operators and completing in excess of 10 million journeys to date.