Bangladesh has fast-tracked the preparations to operate the Dhaka-Kathmandu international bus service, covering a distance of 813 kilometres.

Bangladesh has been preparing to operate bus service on four new routes in Nepal and India.

Borders between Nepal and Bangladesh are separated by the Siliguri Corridor, also known as Chicken’s Neck, a 22-kilometre stretch of Indian territory that separates south-eastern Nepal and northern Bangladesh.

The BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal) motor vehicles agreement, facilitated by the Asian Development Bank, was signed in June 2015.

However, Bhutan is yet to agree on it.

According to The Daily Sun newspaper, Bangladesh has started groundwork to operate the bus service connecting Nepal and India.

With the rising interest of passengers to take cheaper bus services compared to other modes of transport, the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation has planned to operate an international bus service on four new routes.

Bangladesh conducted a Dhaka-Kathmandu trial bus service on April 25, 2018 and Dhaka-Darjeeling on December 12, 2019.

Nepali officials hoped to operate a tripartite bus service regularly after around six months.

Due to the Covid pandemic, the Dhaka-Kathmandu bus service did not go beyond the trial phase.

According to the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation, the new service will connect Dhaka and Kathmandu, Chatgaun and Kolkata, Dhaka and Gangtok, plus Darjeeling, Barishal and Kolkata.

Bangladesh has been operating direct bus services to four Indian cities, along the routes of Dhaka-Kolkata, Tripura-Dhaka-Kolkata, Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati and Dhaka-Khulna-Kolkata services.

Bangladesh’s transportation corporation has proposed a new route to the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges. The proposal is under consideration by the foreign ministry in Dhaka for a final decision.

“Discussion between Nepal and Bangladesh for the process of Dhaka-Kathmandu bus route has moved far ahead,” Tazul Islam, chairman of the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation, told Bangladeshi media. “As geopolitical interest is also connected with international bus service, it has created some problems.”

After Covid-19, India has tightened the Panitanki border for tourists. Bangladesh is hoping that this problem will soon be solved.

The bus service with Nepal will be started as soon as the visa problem is solved and following an agreement with the two countries, Islam said.

In 1999, Bangladesh started its first international bus service with India. The Dhaka-Kolkata service is currently in operation as well.

Islam said there is a possibility of starting bus service on the Chatgaun-Kolkata and the Dhaka-Gangtok-Darjeeling routes.

The Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation, West Bengal Transport Corporation and Shyamoli NR Travels will jointly operate the service.

The bus services will come handy for Nepali students studying in Bangladesh and Bangladeshi tourists coming to Nepal.

There has been a rise in the number of Nepali students studying in Bangladesh and people travelling in either direction.

Nepal received 36,483 Bangladeshi tourists in 2023, according to the Department of Immigration.

The distance between Kathmandu and Dhaka is more than 1,184 km, and the bus journey is expected to take 24 hours.

Nepal and Bangladesh had agreed to finalise an agreement on establishing direct bus services in July 2012 at a foreign secretary-level meeting. However, without a dedicated bilateral agreement between Nepal and India on the use of the Indian territory, the plan failed to take off.

The two sides had also signed an agreement on the carriage of transit cargo, which will help Nepal gain access to Chittagong and Mongla ports in Bangladesh.