NEW DELHI: India and Bangladesh built on their mutual connectivity initiative as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and counterpart Sheikh Hasina flagged off yet another train service between the two countries on Thursday. The weekly 'Bandhan Express' will run every Thursday between Kolkata and Khulna. The inauguration was attended by PM Modi, Hasina and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee via video link.
"We have inaugurated two rail bridges today (over rivers Meghna and Titaash). Built at a cost of about $100 million (Rs 651.55 crore), the bridges will help strengthen Bangladesh's rail network. Being a trusted partner in Bangladesh's development works is a matter of pride for India," Modi said.
Modi even used the occasion to speak in Bengali. "Aaj ei shubho uplokkhe dui desh bashider amar abhinandan janai. Aaj amader moitreyee, bandhon aro sudriro holo (I congratulate the people of the two countries on this auspicious occasion. Our ties of friendship were further strengthened today)," he said.
Newly refurbished immigration and customs facilities were also inaugurated at Kolkata station.
While Nepal, with its largest open border with India, may be said to have the greatest access to India, India and Bangladesh have built arguably the most number of connectivity projects, almost unprecedented in the South Asian region, generally regarded as one of the least connected in the world.
The trial runs for the Kolkata-Khulna train was done during Hasina's visit in April 2017. This adds to the Maitree Express, running between Kolkata and Dhaka since 2008. Now a fully air-conditioned service, officials said the two sides will soon integrate end-to-end immigration and customs services for the trains. This has been a recurring complaint from passengers, who find the train service to be too long because of the immigration halts midway.
The two sides had decided to revive pre-1965 rail links between the two countries (when they were one). This was one of the decisions in the Modi-Hasina summit in 2015. Of the six erstwhile rail links between India and Bangladesh, four links connecting West Bengal with Bangladesh have been made operational.
They are Petrapole-Benapole (Bangladesh), Gede-Darshana, Singhabad-Rohanpur and Radhikapur-Birol. Officials said two more rail links are being worked on — Karimganj/Mahisasan to Shabazpur and Haldibari-Chilhati. The latter will improve connectivity between Assam and Bangladesh, but will need the Indian Railways to build about 4 km of tracks.
Two new railway lines are being contemplated, largely to connect Tripura and Bangladesh. Work on the Agartala-Akhaura rail link started in September while a second line from Belonia to Feni will connect with the Chittagong port, opening up a new route for people and goods to move to the northeast. These train lines are also part of the trans-Asian railway network.
"We have inaugurated two rail bridges today (over rivers Meghna and Titaash). Built at a cost of about $100 million (Rs 651.55 crore), the bridges will help strengthen Bangladesh's rail network. Being a trusted partner in Bangladesh's development works is a matter of pride for India," Modi said.
Modi even used the occasion to speak in Bengali. "Aaj ei shubho uplokkhe dui desh bashider amar abhinandan janai. Aaj amader moitreyee, bandhon aro sudriro holo (I congratulate the people of the two countries on this auspicious occasion. Our ties of friendship were further strengthened today)," he said.
Newly refurbished immigration and customs facilities were also inaugurated at Kolkata station.
While Nepal, with its largest open border with India, may be said to have the greatest access to India, India and Bangladesh have built arguably the most number of connectivity projects, almost unprecedented in the South Asian region, generally regarded as one of the least connected in the world.
The trial runs for the Kolkata-Khulna train was done during Hasina's visit in April 2017. This adds to the Maitree Express, running between Kolkata and Dhaka since 2008. Now a fully air-conditioned service, officials said the two sides will soon integrate end-to-end immigration and customs services for the trains. This has been a recurring complaint from passengers, who find the train service to be too long because of the immigration halts midway.
The two sides had decided to revive pre-1965 rail links between the two countries (when they were one). This was one of the decisions in the Modi-Hasina summit in 2015. Of the six erstwhile rail links between India and Bangladesh, four links connecting West Bengal with Bangladesh have been made operational.
They are Petrapole-Benapole (Bangladesh), Gede-Darshana, Singhabad-Rohanpur and Radhikapur-Birol. Officials said two more rail links are being worked on — Karimganj/Mahisasan to Shabazpur and Haldibari-Chilhati. The latter will improve connectivity between Assam and Bangladesh, but will need the Indian Railways to build about 4 km of tracks.
Two new railway lines are being contemplated, largely to connect Tripura and Bangladesh. Work on the Agartala-Akhaura rail link started in September while a second line from Belonia to Feni will connect with the Chittagong port, opening up a new route for people and goods to move to the northeast. These train lines are also part of the trans-Asian railway network.
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