The North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) on Friday introduced five buses here, including three that will connect Cooch Behar with Calcutta.

NBSTC chairman Parthapratim Roy said: “We have launched five more buses on Friday. Among these include an air-conditioned and two non-airconditioned rocket bus services to Calcutta and two CNG buses.”

Roy, who flagged off the buses at the NBSTC terminus in Cooch Behar, said the AC rocket bus will depart from Cooch Behar every Monday and Friday while from Calcutta, it will leave every Tuesday and Saturday.

“The non-AC buses, however, will run on all seven days of the week,” he said.

The CNG buses will ply between Cooch Behar and Siliguri.

Sources in the state-run transport corporation said ahead of the upcoming festive season, they will also launch “Sabujer Pathe Hatchani (call of the green trail)” package tours for tourists in north Bengal.

“It will be organised in association with a private agency. The tours would take one or two days to cover popular tourist destinations of north Bengal. According to the plan, food, travel and accommodation would be provided by us. We hope it will draw tourists and even people residing in north Bengal during the festivities,” said an official.

He said that on Monday, officials will have a meeting to finalise the details of the proposed package tours. The NBSTC authorities also felicitated 11 employees for their performance and handed a cash reward of ₹10,000 each. The employees included drivers, bus conductors and mechanics.