Following the victory of Tarique Rahman in Bangladesh’s general elections, the bus service between Agartala and Kolkata via Dhaka is set to resume soon.
The service connecting Agatala to Kolkata via Bangladesh was suspended for a year due to political turmoil in Bangladesh. A trial run of the bus services was conducted on Saturday with Tripura chief minister hailing the decision as a ‘good sign.’
Manoranjan Debnath, the manager of the Royal-Maitri international bus service, said that the bus service is set to resume soon, adding that a trial run was conducted where the bus left Krishannagar bus depot in Agartala for Dhaka, PTI reported.
Debnath said that since the agreement between India and Bangladesh, signed in 2001, has not been cancelled, there is no need for fresh permissions to recommence the services.
Services were suspended after shortage of passengers
The Royal-Maitri international bus service was suspended for the past year due to political turmoil in Bangladesh, after a sharp decline in the number of passengers. With the situation improving, the operator now seeks to recommence the service and initiated a trial run.
Talking about the suspension of services earlier, Debnath said that the services were halted following an acute shortage of passengers “due to some unavoidable issues.” He said that the number of passengers had fallen to an all-time low.
Along with this, the visa issues also prompted the shutdown. “With the situation improving in Bangladesh, we want to resume bus service from next week,” he was quoted as saying.
Bus services will start once system is stable
Meanwhile, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha also welcomed the initiative, stating that the uncertainty is over in Bangladesh after the formation of an elected government. “This is a good sign in bilateral ties. We hope other issues will also be addressed,” Saha told reporters.
The operator brought a bus to Krishnanagar depot in West Tripura from Dhaka to resume the service, Debnath said. “This will continue for two or three days. Once the system is stable, we will restart bus service thrice in a week,” he said.
The fare of the around 500 km journey from Agartala to Kolkata via Dhaka is ₹2,800. A train from Agartala needs to travel 1567 km to reach Kolkata via Guwahati.
India preparing to resume visa services in Bangladesh
India is also preparing to resume all visa services in Bangladesh, a senior consular official said. Indian visa centres had suspended operations in Bangladesh as ties between the two countries deteriorated.
Aniruddha Das, India’s senior consular official in Sylhet, said efforts were underway to fully restore all visa services, bdnews24 reported. He said that Medical and double-entry visas are being issued now, and “steps are underway to resume other categories, including travel visas.”
