In a bid to bolster India-Bangladesh bilateral ties, a Kolkata-Khulna-Dhaka bus service, covering 409 km, was flagged off today.
This is the third such service that has been introduced. The two other services are on the Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala and the Kolkata-Dhaka routes.
The Kolkata-Khulna-Dhaka service would be available on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays from Kolkata and on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from Dhaka.
The bus service is being run by the West Bengal Transport Department on the India side and by BRTC on the Bangladesh side.
The fare for the route is yet to be decided.
Simultaneously announced were the Radhikapur-Birol railway link and the trial run for the Kolkata-Khulna rail route. The Kolkata-Khulna via Petrapole rail route, covering 120 km, is expected to commence operations from July this year.