After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Agartala-Kolkata international bus service via Dhaka would resume from Thursday, an official said. A 40-seater bus is set to begin its journey from the Tripura State Transport Corporation International Terminal at Krishnanagar here to Kolkata at 10 am, he said.

"The sale of tickets commenced today. A passenger needs to have a valid passport and transit visa to board the Kolkata-bound bus," said TRTC MD Rajesh Kumar Das. The service will be available for six days in a week, except on Fridays, and the fare has been fixed at Rs 2,300 per passenger, Das said.

The bus will cover a distance of around 500 km from Agartala to Kolkata via Dhaka in around 19 hours. A train journey between the two destinations via Guwahati takes around 35 hours, officials said.

The international bus service will benefit people amid soaring air fares and shortage of long-distance train tickets, they said. The bus facility on this route was suspended in March 2020 after the pandemic struck.

(With PTI inputs)
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