Agartala: The Agartala-Kolkata daily bus service via Dhaka flagged off on Friday with 28 passengers in a simple ceremony after a break of two years due to Covid19.
Tripura Transport Minister Pranajit Singha Roy said the 40-seater Volvo bus would run every day from both sides except for Friday, which will facilitate comparatively a cheaper journey to Kolkata from Agartala covering a distance of around 500 km via Dhaka in around 19 hours.
The train journey between Agartala and Kolkata took at least 36 hours through the high and difficult terrain of North Cachar Hills but via Dhaka through the plains of Bangladesh including an exciting ferry for crossing over River Padma.
The travel time will be little more than a half of the train journey and the cost of travel up to Kolkata will be Rs 2200 and till Dhaka Rs 900 including travel tax, Singha Roy stated.
The bus service was suspended in the last week of March 2020 with the spike in coronavirus and restrictions imposed on the cross-border movement.
Both the countries have withdrawn all restrictions on passenger movement to Bangladesh through Akhaura and Benapole land ports two months ago.
As per the agreement, Tripura Road Transport Corporation runs a bus for Kolkata via Dhaka from Agartala and Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation runs a bus from Kolkata Salt Lake for Agartala via Dhaka.
Despite affordable flight and train services between Agartala and Kolkata, people prefer bus rides via Dhaka not only because of the shorter distance but for the exciting landscape of Bangladesh plains and crossing the mighty river the Padma on a ferry boat since 1999.
The resumption of the Agartala-Kolkata bus service via Dhaka was canceled in April this year twice for not getting clearance from the Bangladesh authority to enter the bus with passengers.
