Royal cruiser, the fleet of Volvo buses introduced to promote tourism in the state in 2006, has suspended its service to Siliguri and Guwahati (via Siliguri) owing to poor roads.

“The air bellows of our buses get deflated due to a large number of potholes on North Bengal routes, posing serious threat to passengers’ safety. So, we have decided to suspend our service on these routes,” said Gautam Banerjee, executive director of Kaushik Logistics which runs the service jointly with the West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation.

As the service covers several popular tourist destinations like Siliguri, Asansol, Digha, Puri and Haldia, the move is expected to inflict a severe blow to the government’s plan to revamp tourism in the state.

According to PWD Minister Kshiti Goswami, the survey to convert NH 34 into a four-lane highway was halted in September 2007 due to resistance from locals. Banerjee said their requests for repairing roads was not responded by the government.

On NH 34 — stretches near Farakka, Ballapur in Murshidabad and Malda —- are completely inadequate for Volvo buses. Initially, the buses were halted for mechanics to fit new bellows, but later the company trained its own staff to replace them. “It is not a practical solution as the replacement takes nearly one hour. Moreover, the bellows are imported from Sweden and cost nearly Rs 40,000 each,” said Banerjee.