Comments
A new passenger train, Bandhan Express, between India and Bangladesh, was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The three leaders inaugurated the service through a video conference.
Travelling between Kolkata and Khulna, the third largest city in Bangladesh, the fully air-conditioned passenger train will run every Thursday from both Kolkata and Khulna.
While the train had an inaugural run on Thursday, the commercial service will begin November 16.
An international rail passenger terminus was also inaugurated at the Kolkata station with proper infrastructure and facilities for end-to-end immigration. This is expected to reduce travel time between Dhaka and Kolkata by nearly three hours.
The Railway Ministry tweeted: “As per joint declaration dt 07th June 2015, both PMs agreed to take measures for ensuring more passenger-friendly customs and immigration facilities for the passengers of Maitree Express & today jointly inaugurated modern International Passenger Terminus at Kolkata.”
Two stops According to Railways officials, the travelling distance between Kolkata and Khulna is nearly 172 km, which the train will cover in approximately five hours.
Apart from Kolkata and Khulna, there will be two stops — Petrapole (in India) for around 10 minutes and Benapole (in Bangladesh) for around 15 minutes.
The immigration and customs checks will take place at Kolkata International Passenger Terminal, in the Indian side and at Benapol border station in the Bangladesh side.
This is the second Indo-Bangla train service after Maitree Express.
The Maitree Express runs between Dhaka and Kolkata. It runs six days a week from each side, covering a distance of 375 km.
The 11-hour Kolkata-Dhaka journey via Maitree Express has two stops for immigration checking — one at Gede (Nadia) in India and the other at Dorshona in Bangladesh.
Bridges inaugurated Apart from flagging off the train, the leaders also inaugurated two bridges over the rivers Meghna and Titas in Bangladesh.
The bridges have been built to provide an end-to-end immigration facility to ease Dhaka-Kolkata Maitree services.
The bridges will strengthen Bangladesh’s rail network and “will help faster movement of both passenger and freight trains in Dhaka-Chittagong routes in Bangladesh,” said a Railways Ministry tweet.
The 1 km long Bhairab railway bridge was built over Meghna at a cost of around $ 75 million by Indian contractors and consultants, while the Titas bridge in eastern Bangladesh was built at a cost of around $ 25 million.
Addressing the occasion, Modi said the close connection and understanding between the two countries require connectivity between people across the border.
“The rail network, which has been constructed with almost $100 million, will enhance connectivity in a big way between India and Bangladesh. We feel proud to be a trusted partner for development projects in Bangladesh,” he said.
Hasina too expressed hope for more such initiatives for increasing rail link and connectivity between the two countries.
Banerjee, on her part, said the new passenger train service will strengthen the relationship between the countries.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.