The West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation has tied up with a private operator to ply new AC buses on the Barasat-Santragachhi route, which touches airport gate No. 1, Rajarhat, New Town and Sector V.

Blue Horizon Bus Lines Pvt Ltd, the private operator selected to offer the service, plans to start operations by the end of the month. The minimum fare will be Rs 15, valid for journeys up to 9km.

According to transport department sources, the government is set to tie up with another private operator that plies taxis nationally to run more AC buses within the city and its suburbs.

Blue Horizon will initially operate 10 new AC buses on the over 38km route, one of the longest in the city. An official said the company plans to introduce 10 more AC buses on the route later.

“Some formalities are yet to be completed but we should be able to start the Barasat-Santragachhi service from the end of this month. We hope to operate the AC buses every half an hour. After some time, the frequency should come down to 15-20 minutes,” said Gautam Banerjee, the CEO of Blue Horizon.

Officials of the surface transport corporation said the Trinamul government had been trying to utilise 49 low-floor Tata Marcopolo buses that the Left Front government had procured in 2010 for Rs 55 lakh each. While a few hit the roads, most had remained in garages because of “high operation cost”.

“Some of the Tata Marcopolo buses now ply between Sulekha in Jadavpur and Narkelbagan in Rajarhat. Most are not being used. We have decided to engage private players to operate the buses,” said a senior official of the corporation.

The private players will pay Rs 54,000 to the government every month for the permit and the use of each bus in addition to Rs 8.26 lakh “security deposit”.

“The company and government share 50 per cent of the revenue generated by advertisements on the buses,” said a government official.

nShops gutted: Three shops, including a drug store, were gutted on Beleghata Main Road after a fire broke out in a shoe shop on Monday afternoon. The fire spread before six tenders could reach the spot and douse the flames.

nBody found: The body of a 29-year-old man, who had been missing since Sunday night, was fished out of a pond near his Beleghata home on Monday. Police said Dhritiman Bhattacharya, a resident of SK Sarbadhikari Lane, had left home around 10.30pm on Sunday. His relatives said he was preparing to take up a job in Dubai.