Law minister Moloy Ghatak flagged off two luxury bus services from Asansol today. The Asansol-Siliguri daily luxury bus services by South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC) will begin from 1 December. Chairman of South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC), Subhas Mondal was also present.

At a function held in City Bus Stand at Hutton Road, the two luxury buses were flagged off by the Asansol North MLA and minister Moloy Ghatak. Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that the communication system has improved immensely between north and south Bengal in the past twelve years. “It is easier now to travel to prominent cities and towns by road from any part of the state.

Both inter-district and inter-state connectivity has improved. It will also boost tourism in the the state in the days to come,” said Mr Ghatak. SBSTC Chairman Mondal said that in the coming days even running of Volvo buses in the important routes are also planned. The state-owned transport company is planning to introduce Volvo bus services soon. Night bus services will also start between Durgapur and Digha.

The new buses will start from 3.15pm from Asansol and 5.15pm from Siliguri. To boost tourism, South Bengal State Transport Corporation is also planning to launch Durgapur-Puri and Durgapur-Jamshedpur luxury bus services. The CNG buses will have pushback seats, fully air conditioned with curtains on the window and LED television sets. In the past two years, SBSTC has introduced over fifty luxury buses in different routes of the state and neighbouring states.

Already, SBSTC runs about 90 environmentally-friendly CNG buses and in the next few years also has plans to add an equal number of CNG buses and reach all corners of the state.