State to introduce special vessel & bus services on weekends and holidays

KOLKATA: State Transport department will run special weekend vessels and bus services for the tourists. The special vessel service, to be available on Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays will start from September 11.

The special service of buses, to be available on Fridays and Sundays, will start from September 16. On Thursday, state Transport minister Snehasish Chakraborty announced that soon they will sit with the Tourism department officials so that new tour packages can be offered to the tourists. The minister also informed that soon bus services to Dooars and Sikkim will be introduced from few North Bengal districts.He said: "We have a plan to start special services styled as 'Sobujer Hatchhani'. Our plan is to start services to Dooars and Sikkim from Darjeelimng, Jalpaiguri, Malda and Cooch Behar. The package will be formed soon." According to the Transport department, among the 11 bus routes, air-conditioned (ac) buses will ply in six routes and in rest of the routes, non-ac buses will ply. The minister informed that the fare has been calculated for to and fro journey with light refreshment inside the bus. Tourists can book tickets both online and offline. For the offline mode, tourists will have to go to the ticket counter at the place of departure. The ac-bus routes are from Kolkata to Bakkhali, Mayapur, Furfurah Sharif, Tarapith, Bandel Church and Chandrokona Gurudwara. The buses will depart from the L-20 bus stand in Esplanade. The non-ac buses will be used for passengers to Furfura Sharif from Bashirhat, Barasat, Canning, Ghatakpur and Bhangar. These services will be active on Fridays and Sundays. Special vessel services for the tourists for Millennium Park-Dakshineswar and Howrah-Botanical Garden will start from Sunday.