Agartala-Kolkata bus service via Dhaka to resume from Jun 10 after two years

The Agartala-Kolkata bus service via Dhaka will resume from June 10 after a hiatus of over two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an official of the Tripura government said on Saturday. The bus service was initially planned to restart from April 28 but postponed owing to ''some technical reasons'', he said. State transport department principal secretary LH Darlong has written letters to Bangladesh's Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian High Commission to the neighbouring country, apprising them of the proposed resumption of the international bus service.

"Tickets for the bus service will be available at the Tripura Road Transport Corporation counter at Krishnanagar from June 1. Passengers need to have a valid passport and visa to board a vehicle,'' a transport department official said.

In a separate letter to the joint secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, state additional secretary S Chowdhury informed all concerned about the resumption of the cross border bus service.

The fare from Agartala to Kolkata via Dhaka will be Rs 2,300 per passenger, including travelling tax, while it will be Rs 1,000 from Tripura capital to Dhaka.

The international bus service will benefit people amid soaring air fares and suspension of long-distance trains due to landslides in neighbouring Assam.

The bus will cover a distance of around 500 km from Agartala to Kolkata via Dhaka in around 19 hours. A train journey between the two destinations via Guwahati takes around 35 hours, another official said.

The bus facility on this route was suspended in March 2020 after the pandemic struck.

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