BIRMINGHAM: An ambitious project to start a bus service, traveling nearly 6,500 km from Mirpur, in the Pakistan-administered Kashmir to Birmingham has been announced.
Mirpur, located in the north-east of PaK, at the foothills of the Himalayas, has a large expatriate community in Birmingham and the city is therefore often referred to as ‘Little England or Little Birmingham.’
After commissioning the bus service will be Britain’s longest bus route, and take 12 days to cross five countries Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Serbia and Belgium. Passengers will be charged £130 for a ticket, the Telegraph reports.
Mirpur’s transport minister, Tahir Khokherc, added that arrangements for sightseeing could also be made and he called the journey a “thrilling” ride. He also said there would be two stopovers – one at Quetta, near the Afghan border and in the Iranian capital of Tehran.
“We are a little behind schedule with our plans because of negotiations with transport companies and bureaucratic hold-ups. But we are proposing to run four luxury buses once a fortnight,” Khokherc told the Birmingham Mail, adding, “The PaK government will also set up a swift counter system to hasten the visa process for those who don’t have a British passport.”
Welcoming the plan, Khalid Mahmood, a Birmingham Labour MP said the move would strengthen tourism between the two cities.
“I think it’s a great idea that will bring the two cities closer together and be a real life experience, particularly for younger people both here and in Kashmir,” he said, “I’m sure the service would prove very popular, especially with average air fares to Pakistan being about £600.”
On a more cautious note, although road travel between PaK and the UK was normal even until three or four decades ago, the present spectre of terrorism does raise some security concerns. This is particularly the case in Quetta, where Taliban leaders are believed to be in hiding.