New Delhi
9 March 2007
India and Bangladesh have agreed to start a railway service
between Kolkata and Dhaka from the Bengali New Year on April 14. New Delhi has said
that the agreement reflects the improving ties between the two countries and welcomed
the efforts of the caretaker government in Bangladesh to build a harmonious
relationship with India.
"There was an inability to resolve simple issues but things that would not have
happened earlier are happening now," the sources tracking India's relations with
Bangladesh said on Friday. They reacted positively to the steps taken by the caretaker
government in Dhaka, like clearing a power project to be set up by Bharat Heavy
Electricals Limited (BHEL) and positively considering India's proposals for transit and
gas pipeline to Myanmar. The power project, estimated to cost 200 million dollars, will
be funded partly by Asian Development Bank (ADB).
As per the agreement reached by the Indian and Bangladeshi railways, each country will
run the train for six months each. Railway Board Adviser (Traffic) Ashok Gupta told this
newspaper that the train would run between the new railway terminal at Chitpur near
Sealdah and Joydevpur near Dhaka. "The broad gauge line is upto Joydevpur. A broad
gauge line to Dhaka is expected to become operational by December," Mr Gupta said.
He was recently in Dhaka for the inter-governmental railway meeting.
"The agreement is in place. The outer limit for starting the service is three months," Mr
Gupta said about the new rail link. Rail Bhavan sources said that two groups have been
formed to decide matters like fare, ticketing, schedule and customs procedures. They
said that the Kolkata -- Dhaka service would be slightly different from the Thar Express
or the Samjhauta Express running between India and Pakistan in that it will be a daily
service, it will be fully reserved, passengers will be issued a single ticket and
airconditioned coaches will be introduced as the train will run in the day.
The sources said that the introduction of the rail link had come up for discussion when
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee travelled to Dhaka recently. They said that
the Indian High Commission in Dhaka issued about 2,000 visas on a daily basis and this
new train service was expected to become highly popular.
India and Bangladesh are operating railway freight services today but this would be the
first time after several decades that a passenger service was being introduced. The two
countries have at present two bus services -- between Kolkata and Dhaka and between
Agartala and Dhaka.
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