Dhaka: The first commercial run of the Dhaka-Agartala bus service started from Dhaka on a dull note on September 22 morning as only one passenger undertook the trip.

It was a disappointing scene as far as passenger response to the service is concerned, with many people desirous to take the trip not being able to do so due to visa complications, informed sources said.

"There was only one passenger from Dhaka on the first trip," an official of state-owned Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation's (BRTC) Kamalapur international terminal said. However, he said there will be more passengers in the return trip from Agartala.

The BRTC bus has a capacity to carry 40 passengers. The round trip fare for the air-conditioned bus has been fixed at $ 10.

While BRTC is the operator from Bangladesh, Tripura Road Transport Corporation (TRTC) will operate the service from India.

The commercial bus service between the two cities was to start from September 20, a day after the formal inauguration by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways B C Khanduri and his Bangladesh counterpart Nazmul Huda. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and Bangladesh Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan also attended the launching ceremony.

The Dhaka-Agartala bus service is the outcome of an agreement signed between India and Bangladesh on July 10, 2001 during the tenure of previous Awami League government of Sheikh Hasina.

PTI