Tripura, Oct 30 (ANI): A 45-seater luxury bus, carrying 18 passengers, including two Canadians, left for Kolkata via Dhaka on October 16. Six of the passengers were bound for Kolkata and 12 for Bangladesh. Flagged off by Tripura Transport Minister Manik Dey, the buses are scheduled to ply twice a week. The fare ranges between Rs. 1,800 to Rs. 2,000. The distance between Kolkata and Agartala, which is about 1,650 km if one skirts Bangladesh? But the distance falls to 515 km if the buses go through Dhaka. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina jointly flagged off the Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala bus services during Modi's visit to Bangladesh on June 6. The people are happy with the start of service. The government is laying more emphasis on improving connectivity in the Northeast, a land-locked region. Better connectivity will help the people to enhance their linkages and improve trade ties with the rest of the country and South East Asia.