Location

Mal is at 26°51′N 88°45′E / 26.85°N 88.75°E / 26.85; 88.75.^[6]

Malbazar is one of the more important towns in Dooars.^{[citation needed]} It is strategically located in the eastern part of the Dooars region. The town itself is rather an economical hub and a doorway to Dooars than being a tourist spot. tourist destination of Eastern Dooars – Gorumara National Park, Chapramari Wildlife Reserve, Jhalong, Bindu, Samsing, Suntalekhola etc. could be accessed through the town.

There is a government tourist lodge in Malbazar apart from a few private accommodations. An annual flower show is held, visited by people from places far and near.^{[citation needed]}

Area overview

Gorumara National Park has overtaken traditionally popular Jaldapara National Park in footfall and Malbazar has emerged as one of the most important towns in the Dooars. Malbazar subdivision is presented in the map alongside.^[7][8] It is a predominantly rural area with 88.62% of the population living in rural areas and 11.32% living in the urban areas.^[9][10] Tea gardens in the Dooars and Terai regions produce 226 million kg or over a quarter of India's total tea crop.^[11][12] Some tea gardens were identified in the 2011 census as census towns or villages.^[13] Such places are marked in the map as CT (census town) or R (rural/ urban centre). Specific tea estate pages are marked TE.

Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.

Languages

Bengali is the most spoken language of the town, followed significant number of Hindi, Bhojpuri, Nepali and Sadri speakers.^[16]

Railway

There are two Railway Stations which serves Malbazar, they are Malbazar Railway Station (station code MLBZ) and New Mal Junction (station code NMZ).Malbazar railway station (MLBZ) is a small station where only local and DEMU trains are available whereas New Mal Junction is the major junction from where many Express trains, Intercity trains, and local trains are available. New Mal Junction is connected by the newly converted Broad Gauge of the New Jalpaiguri–Alipurduar–Samuktala line, whereas Malbazar Railway Station lies on New Mal–Changrabandha–New Cooch Behar line. The 1st railway line leads from the forests of North Bengal to the foothills near the India - Bhutan border, whereas the 2nd railway line originates from Malbazar and terminates in Changrabandha, which lies in India - Bangladesh border.

Roadways

Malbazar is well connected by road with cities like Siliguri and Jalpaiguri. Since it lies on the route towards Jaigaon, so Jeep/Taxi services are available towards Jaigaon, Hasimara, Birpara, Binnaguri, Gangtok, Kalimpong, Rangpo, Singtam, Jorethang, Pakyong, Namchi, Pelling, Darjeeling, Panitanki, Bagdogra, Mainaguri, Dhupguri, Falakata, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar etc. Some long distance buses connecting Siliguri to Guwahati, Shillong, Jorhat etc also runs via Malbazar. Malbazar became popular to tourists as a gateway to many more spots like Gorumara, Chapramari and Chalsa.^{[citation needed]} There is a short route between Malbazar to hill stations like Labha, Algarah, Pedong, Kalimpong, Rhenock, Mansong, Aritar via Gorubathan by State Highway 12 and National Highway 717A.^[19]

Frequent Bus services are available from Malbazar to P.C. Mittal Memorial Bus Terminus, Siliguri.

Also many buses are available from the town to Birpara, Hasimara, Jaigaon, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, Dhupguri, Jalpaiguri etc.

Airways

The nearest airport is Bagdogra International Airport 74 kilometres away. Vistara, IndiGo, Go First, Akasa Air, AIX Connect, Air India, SpiceJet and Druk Air (Bhutan) are the major carriers that connects Bagdogra Airport to Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Paro (Bhutan), Guwahati, Kolkata, Dibrugarh and Bangkok (Thailand).