The Dhaka-Agartala bus service was on Friday morning flagged off  by Bangladesh Communications Minister Nazmul Huda and Union Minister for Road and Transport and Highways B C Khanduri.

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Bangladesh Foreign Minsister Morshed Khan, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and a host of diplomats and senior officials from both nations were present at the hour long function at the premises of the Road and Highways Department in Dhaka.

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Two buses, carrying nearly 100 people, including cultural and sports personalities, officials and mediapersons left Dhaka for the historic four-hour, 151km trip.

Regular commercial service will commence on Saturday with state-owned Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) rolling out two buses every day and the Tripura Road Transport Corporation plying its vehicles six days a week with a round fare costing $10.There will be only one halt at Ashuganj in Bangladesh during the journey.

The bus service has been a long-standing demand of people on both sides of the border. The start of the service is the outcome of an agreement signed at the fag-end of the previous Awami League government headed by Sheikh Hasina in 2001.

The Dhaka-Kolkata bus service, the first direct surface communication between the two countries, was initiated on July 9, 1999.

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