Dhaka-Kolkata train service begins on Pahela Baishakh

The Dhaka-Kolkata passenger train service deal was signed at the Bangladesh secretariat on Thursday to resume the railway communications which remained snapped for 42 years.
The communications secretary, Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman, and the Indian high commissioner in Dhaka, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, signed the agreement at the ministry.
‘It is a historic moment for us… Through the agreement, the railway communications between the two countries have been restored,’ said Mahbubur Rahman, after signing the agreement.
He said the signing of the three-year deal between the two countries was an outcome of all-out efforts from both the sides. ‘It will help to develop cooperation in other areas of bilateral interests. More opportunities will open up in various sectors once the passenger train operation resumes.’
Pinak Ranjan said the train communications would be reconnecting the two countries. ‘All worked hard to make it possible. This is a beginning of new chapters in connectivity in the region and between the two countries. The SAARC summit in Delhi decided to facilitate the connectivity among the member countries… The train communications will further facilitate trade and commerce between the two countries.’
Asked about the future of the deal signed with a caretaker government, he hoped that following governments would not create any obstacles to the agreement. ‘Everything will be all right once the train starts running between the countries.’
Bangladesh and India have made all the preparations to commission the Maitree Express on Pahela Baishakh, the Bangla New Year, which falls on April 14 in both the countries this time.
Tickets for the inaugural trip will be available at the Kamalapur railway station from today.
The Maitree Express will leave the Dhaka Cantonment station at 8:30am and reach Kolkata at 9:00pm on April 14 through the Darshana border. The communications adviser, Ghulam Quader, will be present, among others, at the inauguration of the train service
Metal detectors, luggage scanners and archways have been set up at the Darshana station for immigration and customs formalities and the luggage scanning for outgoing passengers would be done at the time of departure at the Dhaka Cantonment station, said official sources, adding that security forces, including the railway police, would be deployed to ensure security at the stations.
The Maitree Express will run from the Cantonment station in Dhaka and Chitpur station in Kolkata.
Immigration formalities would take at least five hours at Darshana in Bangladesh and Gede in India and the journey would take eight hours by the Maitree Express train with an accommodation capacity of 418 passengers, said officials.
India has already set up a metal structure 150 yards off no man’s land near Joynagar as a preparation for the train service resumption.
A train will leave Dhaka for Kolkata every Saturday and return to Dhaka every Sunday and another train will leave Kolkata every Saturday and will go back every Sunday.
Train fares will be between $8 and $20 depending on the classes for the 538km journey — 418km in Bangladesh and 120km in India.
Passenger train communications between Bangladesh and India were snapped in 1965 following a war between India and Pakistan when Bangladesh, the then East Pakistan, was a part of Pakistan.
Earlier in 2001, Bangladesh and India governments signed the agreement to resume the railway service.