AGARTALA, June 3 (TIWN): A 35-passenger bus 'Maitree' owned by Tripura Road Transport Corporation left from the international bus terminus at Agartala for Kolkata through the Akhaura integrated checkpost on Wednesday.It crossed into Bangladesh at 6.30 AM in the trial run of the direct bus service between Agartala and Kolkata across Bangladesh.The passengers included an eight member delegation led by Tripura transport secretary Samarjit Bhowmik.

The passengers expressed satisfaction over the new bus service and said this is a dream come true.They said this would go a long way in resolving the problems of people in travelling from Tripura to West Bengal."I am very happy and it’s a great privilege for me that I am leading the team of trial run of the bus service from Agartala to Kolkata via Dhaka. This is opening a new chapter of tourism, connectivity with Bangladesh and mainland states of India as far as Tripura is concerned," said Samarjit Bhowmik.The new bus service would help in solving the crisis of air ticket from Agartala to Kolkata but people expressed that the system for getting visa should be made easy and the price of the ticket within the reach of the common people so that they can avail the service.“I think people will take it positively because the crisis of air ticket is something we always face. 

But at the same time the hassle for getting passport and visa is a problem and if the rate (of ticket) is reasonable,  then I think people will pick up it. We will be travelling across a foreign nation so close to us ,which is an added pleasure,” said another passenger Arindam Nath. “ It is a dream to be in this dream bus. Last night I was in half sleep due to this excitement,”  said another passenger Ratan Das.

He thanked the Bangladesh government for helping this service get started.Another bus of the West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation, Sohadhya, that arrived here last afternoon also left for return to Kolkata via Dhaka.

The new bus service has come off as part of joint initiatives of the governments of India and Bangladesh.

The decision to begin the cross-border bus service had been taken in a recent meeting between visiting Bangladesh transport minister Obaidul Qader and his Indian counterpart Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi.

The service will be formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi - who is scheduled for a two-day to Dhaka fromSaturday - and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Matters started taking concrete shape only recently after the transport ministers of India and Bangladesh signed a bilateral agreement in New Delhi.

The direct Agartala-Kolkata bus service across Bangladesh would reduce the distance between Agartala and Calcutta by more than 1,000km.

The distance between Agartala and Calcutta via Assam, Meghalaya and north Bengal is 1,650km, while across Bangladesh, the distance will be reduced to only 500km.

Tripura state government had been pressing for direct bus service between Agartala and other Northeast Indian state capitals across Bangladesh since 2010.