AGARTALA, June 16 (TIWN): Kolkata-Agartala via Dhaka commercial bus service kicked off with a total of 11 passengers reached here at Tripura capital Agartala on Tuesday. An air-conditioned Volvo bus, carrying the passengers, departed from Kolkata Salt Lake international bus terminus at around 2 in the afternoon Monday and reached here on Tuesday safely.The Agartala-Kolkata bus service via Dhaka is expected to facilitate visiting mainland Indian states for people of the mountainous northeastern region, reducing the distance by over 1,000 km, said a passenger. The bus has departed from Kolkata and crossed over to Bangladesh later in the day and travelled through the country and entered Tripura through the Akhaura check post and arrived at Agartala International Bus Terminus of Tripura Road Transport Corporation (TRTC) in the morning successfully and safely without any casualty, said the passenger.However, a source said, when the bus departed from Kolkata it was fully packed and the same bus came to Agartala with 11 passengers on Tuesday morning at 7.45 and maximum of the passenger got down at Dhaka.After the introduction of the trial run of bus service, this is for the first time the bus service is used for commercial purposes.Transportation via Bangladesh is much easier as road connectivity is a big factor for the mountainous north eastern states which share boundaries with Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and China.

Talking to TIWN correspondent a passenger stated that the journey was peaceful and service provided was satisfactory.

"For the people of Tripura, southern Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Mizoram, the Bangladesh route is the only secure, easier and cost effective option to go to Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai and other parts of India", said a passenger who came to Agartala in the same bus from Kolkata.

However, it is expected that the bus service would strengthen relationship between the people of India and Bangladesh. Both the neighboring countries would usher positivity in relations in bringing the people on both sides closer to each other.