Agartala, June 10: The Agartala- Bangladesh-Kolkata bus service, which was suspended in March 2020 after the outbreak of Covid-19 and the restrictions imposed on cross-border movement, resumed on Friday to facilitate easier ferrying of people from the northeast region of India to rest of the country.

Tripura Transport and Tourism Minister Pranajit Singha Roy accompanied by Assistant High Commissioner of Bangladesh diplomatic mission in Agartala Arif Mohammad and Agartala Municipal Corporation Mayor Dipak Majumder flagged off the bus service, to be operated by the newly floated Royal Maitri International Bus Service.

Singha Roy said that the 40-seater passenger bus would ply six days a week excluding Friday. From Agartala it will reach Dhaka in four hours and Kolkata in 19 hours.

In all, 28 passengers – 22 Indians and six Bangladesh nationals – boarded the air-conditioned luxury bus on Friday.

Roy said the bus service would not only help the people of Tripura and other north-eastern states to go to Kolkata (with a fare of Rs 2200) and then other parts of India on a cheap fare but will also boost trade, tourism and strengthen the people to people contact.

“In the near future, air, rail and waterway connectivity would be launched between Tripura and various cities of Bangladesh. After the completion of the work of the under construction railway line, we expect the railway service between Tripura and Bangladesh to start next year,” he added.

Bangladesh Assistant High Commissioner Arif Mohammad said after a lot of efforts, the bus service has resumed fulfilling the expectations of people of both countries. “The passenger bus service is the symbol of “Maitri’ (friendship) – that is why, we call it Maitri Bus,” he added.

In view of the railway lines cut-off in Assam from May 14, the bus service became very important for the people of Tripura, Mizoram and southern Assam to go to Kolkata and other parts of India.

Due to the railway line disruptions in Assam, the fares of different flights operating between Mizoram, Tripura, and southern Assam increased by three to four times, severely affecting the people bound for Kolkata, Delhi and other cities in India by air.

Due to unprecedented landslides triggered by heavy rain, massive damage has been caused to stations and railway tracks at over 58 locations in Northeast Frontier Railway’s Lumding-Badarpur single line railway route via the mountainous Dima Hasao district of Assam.

This single track railway line connects Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and the southern parts of Assam with the rest of the country.