Bus service from Kolkata to Khulna takes off on trial basis

A bus has taken off from Kolkata to Khulna on a trial basis under the Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal (BBIN) Agreement. Last year, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had launched bus services from Kolkata to Dhaka also under the BBIN agreement.
This has been reported in thestatesman.com dated 31 August 2016.

The bus will go from Kolkata to Khulna via Jessore and the bus service, on trial basis, was flagged off from the Kasba Paribahan Bhavan by the transport minister Shubhendu Adhikari. The bus will be operated by the West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation and will cover the 185-Km in around 12 hours taking into account immigration checks and traffic congestion. A regular time table will be finalized after the trial run.
The state government has decided to operate more buses to a number of destinations in Bangladesh. These will be Siliguri to Chittagong via Phulbari, Kolkata to Chittagong via Dhaka and Benapole, Guwahati to Kolkata via Shillong, Dhaka, Benapole and Petrapole.
The state government is also keen to introduce bus services to popular tourist destinations, including Dhaka-Kathmandu and Dhaka - Thimpu via Fulbari in Siliguri.
A cargo vehicle from Kolkata to Dhaka was also flagged off. The Bangladesh government also introduced a cargo vehicle service today from Dhaka to Delhi via Kolkata.
These are intended to improve regional co-operation among India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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