In 2025, India’s intercity bus travel saw strong growth, with key trends showing how people are travelling across the country, according to the RedBus 2025 Travel Trends Report. The report highlights that pilgrimage travel surged by about 88 % compared with the previous year, and leisure travel to weekend getaway spots rose by around 25 %, showing that both spiritual journeys and short breaks are major reasons people are choosing bus travel.
Across India, the busiest bus routes included Hyderabad–Bangalore, Bangalore–Chennai and Chennai–Madurai, reflecting high demand in southern travel corridors. The average ticket price nationally was around INR 964.
Smaller towns and Tier-3 cities played a big role in this growth, making up about 61 % of all journeys in 2025, while passengers from rural and semi-urban areas also rose significantly. This shows that more people outside major cities are choosing intercity bus travel, helped by better digital access to bookings and wider route options.
Looking at who is travelling, women accounted for about 32 % of passengers, while younger travellers were prominent — Gen Z (under 25) made up around 33 %, and millennials (ages 26–40) were the largest group at about 44 %.
Comfort preferences were clear: AC buses dominated bookings, with 73 % of travellers choosing them. Many passengers also opted for sleeper seats (50 %) and hybrid seating (30 %), especially on longer journeys.
The strongest growth in pilgrimage travel was seen on routes such as Delhi–Ayodhya–Varanasi–Prayagraj in the North, temple destinations in Tamil Nadu like Tiruchendur and Thanjavur, and spiritual hubs in the West like Ujjain, Khatu Shyamji and Shirdi. Some regions, like Prayagraj during the Mahakumbh 2025, saw exceptionally large increases in bus seat demand.
Overall, 2025’s trends show that intercity bus travel in India is evolving, with spiritual trips, weekend getaways and participation from smaller towns driving stronger passenger numbers and shaping how people travel by road.
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