Agartala (Tripura), Jan.19: A second passenger bus to Kolkata via Dhaka was started from Agartala, Tripura, to give a boost to the trans-border relationship between India and Bangladesh.

The second bus service has been named Maitre-2.

The buses red in color were flagged off by Tripura Road Transport Corporation Chairman Rajendra Reang and MLA Ratan Das in Agartala recently.

Passengers in the bus were very excited to be a part of the first Volvo service from the state.

Anurabh Dhar, a passenger, said, “This will be a very secure service as we shall be able to go directly there. I make a lot of friends with Bangladeshi people especially during traveling and this will help in it.”

The bus service is expected to improve the relationship between India and Bangladesh through people-to-people connectivity.

Tripura shares a solid relationship with Bangladesh and West Bengal, because of the density of the Bengali populated densities.

Das said, “India-Bangladesh and Tripura-Bangladesh relations are pre-division and pre-independence since we part of undivided India. People leaving the houses, land and resettled here, setting up of the border, now reuniting and it has a nostalgic effect that fills our soul. This is the second bus in the second year brought by TRTC and I shall say it is a great achievement.”

“The bus service from between the nations will be fruitful for the locals as it will be time-saving and economical as the bus is scheduled to ply twice a week with a fare of Rs 2200 and will take some 20 hours for reaching the destinations,” he added.

The distance between Kolkata and Agartala is about 1,650 km if one skirts Bangladesh. But the distance falls to 515 km if the buses go through Dhaka.

Reang said, “I hope it will further improve the relationship between India and Bangladesh and this initiative is towards that. I am sure that our relationship will keep improving.

VO4: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina jointly flagged off the Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati and Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala bus services during Modi’s visit to Bangladesh around three years back.”

Due to non-availability of air tickets and for other reasons, the buses have become a popular mode of transport between West Bengal and Tripura via Dhaka.

The first Maitre bus service was launched in the year 2015.

The Kolkata-Dhaka bus link began in June 1999. And a separate Agartala-Dhaka service started in September 2003. (ANI)