By IANS,
Kolkata : The only bus service between Kolkata and Dhaka was resumed Friday after having been suspended in April.
West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation Limited (WBSTCL) Additional Chief Secretary Sumantra Chowdhury said: “The bus service between the two countries resumed at 7 a.m. Friday. Our agreement with our older franchise expired in April and we were dissatisfied with their service. So we withdrew the bus service till we found a new franchise – Kolkata-based Koushik Logistics, which runs the Royal Cruiser Volvo Bus Service.”
The Kolkata-Dhaka bus service, which has been connecting the two neighbouring countries for the past nine years, will now be operated jointly by Koushik Logistics, WBSTCL and the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation.
“Our aim is to make the journey more comfortable, faster and cheaper than train. The buses leaving Kolkata in the morning will reach Dhaka by afternoon the same day. The tickets have been priced at Rs.1,090 for a two way journey,” Koushik Logistics executive director Gautam Banerjee told IANS.
Two Royal Cruiser buses will ply between Salt Lake in northeatern Kolkata and Dhaka on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. There will be 45 passengers on each trip.