After a long gap of two years, a private bus operator with the help of North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) started the Siliguri-Kakkarvitta-Kathmandu bus service on Wednesday afternoon.
The bus was inaugurated by state transport minister Firhad Hakim.
The bus will run on a regular basis from Tenzing Norgay bus terminus at 2 pm, will cover 615km and reach Kathmandu the next morning at around 7 am. The ticket is priced at Rs.1500 per person.
Speaking with ANI, Hakim said, "I am happy today that the service after a long gap is being started by NBSTC. The tourism between North Bengal and Nepal will have a boost and definitely, there will be more and more passengers in future. So that NBSTC will run more and more buses to entertain the passengers. Mr Hakim also said that they are waiting for the NOC from the Bangladesh side to run the bus service from Siliguri to Dhaka, Bangladesh. They will start as soon as getting the permission".
The passengers on the first-day journey said, "It will reduce time and fare is affordable."
Anurag Agarwal, an Indian bus operator said, the bus service will help the people to travel to Nepal for tourist, medical and religious purposes.
Bharat Timsihna, Nepal bus operator said, we are happy to see the government has started the much-awaited bus service from West Bengal's Siliguri. This will help both the countries' people. We have a very good and healthy relationship with India, but this will again help to boost up.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor