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The first trial run of a goods train was conducted between Northeast India and Bangladesh Monday. A goods train started from the Gangasagar railway station on the Bangladesh side and reached Nischintapur in Tripura. This development came a decade after the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to start the first Indo-Bangla international railway service between Akhaura (Bangladesh) and Agartala (India).
As per the standard operating procedure, the train would return to Bangladesh after necessary formalities.
“I’m happy to announce that it has been a long pending project and it has successfully seen a trial run in the meter gauge portion today. It will take another one to two months to connect Agartala railway station… For goods trains, the line will be opened very soon but for passenger trains, there are some formalities that need to be observed by the Indian Railways and the Bangladesh Railway Board,” the official added.
Md Rafizul Rahman, the Bangladeshi loco pilot who was in charge of the goods train, said he started from Gangasagar railway station and reached Akhaura railway station with 14-15 people on board including officials and other personnel.
Abdul Rahim, a railway conductor who was on board, said the rail route would provide benefits to passengers seeking to visit India or travel to different parts of the country using Agartala’s Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport. “This is the first time a train from Bangladesh has entered Northeast India. It is a matter of pride for us to have joined this journey,” he added.
Liafta Ali Majumder, a senior engineer of Bangladesh Railways, said the trial run was successfully conducted and passenger trains are likely to be started based on discussions between the governments of both countries.
Tripura shares an 856 km-long international border with Bangladesh, parts of which are still unfenced owing to local disputes. The state’s only road connectivity with the rest of the country is through Assam and a narrow strip of land in West Bengal’s Siliguri.
After completion of the Indo-Bangla railway project in Tripura, the travel time between Agartala and Kolkata via Dhaka is estimated to be reduced from 31 hours to 10 hours.
Akhaura used to be the railway link for Agartala during the colonial era.
As per official estimates, the construction of the Indo-Bangla international railway link through the Agartala-Akhaura route has cost Rs 862.5 crore till now.
The project was supposed to be completed in 2020 but was delayed following land acquisition issues and the Covid-19 pandemic.
