Agartala, February 21 Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Saturday welcomed the initiative to resume the India-Bangladesh bus service connecting Agartala with Kolkata via Dhaka.
The Royal-Maitri international bus service had been suspended for the past year due to political turmoil in the neighboring country, resulting in visa issues and a sharp decline in the number of passengers. With the situation improving, the operator now seeks to recommence the service and has initiated a trial run.
"I welcome the move to resume the Indo-Bangla bus service connecting Agartala with Kolkata via Dhaka. The uncertainty is over with the formation of an elected government in Bangladesh. This is a positive sign in bilateral relations. We hope that other issues will also be addressed," he told reporters.
A year after the suspension of the Indo-Bangla bus service, the operator brought a bus from Dhaka to the Krishnanagar depot in West Tripura to resume the service.
When contacted, Manoranjan Debnath, the manager of the international bus service, said that the Indo-Bangla bus service had been suspended for one year due to political turmoil in Bangladesh.
"Due to this, the number of passengers had fallen to an all-time low, and the visa problem had prompted us to shut down the service. With the situation improving in Bangladesh, we want to resume bus service by next week," he said.
Debnath added, "Today, the bus left the Krishnanagar bus depot (Agartala) for Dhaka as a trial run. This will continue for two or three days. Once the system is stable, we will restart bus service three times a week".
The fare for the approximately 500 km journey from Agartala to Kolkata via Dhaka is Rs 2800. A train from Agartala needs to travel 1567 km to reach Kolkata via Guwahati.