Bus services to be introduced from Dhaka to Siliguri on May 26

Darjeeling: A bus service from Dhaka to Siliguri via Banglabandha and Fulbari is all set to commence from May 26.

The bus will be flagged off on that day from Kamlapur, Dhaka. The luxury bus service will take around 14 hours.

The residents of Panchagarh district, Bangladesh will accord a warm welcome to the travellers on the maiden voyage at Banglabandha (the Bangladesh border town on the Indo Bangla border.) Preparations are on at Fulbari, on the Indian side.

Test runs had been conducted last year between Dhaka, Siliguri and Nepal. The bus service is seen to boost tourism.

Banglabandha-Fulbari is the third largest dry port and transit point on the Indo-Bangla border. Since long there has been a demand from a bus service between Dhaka and Siliguri.

After the inking of the Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal Motor Vehicles Agreement, on 23 April 2018 test runs of two buses had taken place between Dhaka, Siliguri and Kathmandu.

The buses will ply through Asian 2 Highway. The highway connects the three countries. As of now the service will be between Dhaka and Siliguri. There are plans to extend services to the Nepal capital Kathmandu later on.

The luxury buses will have seats for 28 passengers. The fare has been fixed at 2,000 Bangladesh Taka (around Rs 1500)

Shyamoli Travels will operate two buses as of now. One from Dhaka and one from Siliguri everyday. As Shyamoli is a private enterprise, initially the services will be by transshipment.

A bus will ferry passengers from Siliguri to Fulbari, a distance of around 6km. The passengers after completing travel and immigration formalities (passport-visa checks) will be provided another bus from Banglabandha on the Bangladesh side to take them to Dhaka. The same system will be followed from Dhaka. The bus from Dhaka will drop passengers at Banglabandha. The passengers will be provided another bus from Fulbari to Siliguri.