Bangladesh - Dhaka-Siliguri passenger train service to start on March 26

Dhaka: Passenger train service between Dhaka and Siliguri may start by March end, a year after it was formally launched by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

Senior officials of the Northeast Frontier Railway and the Border Security Force on March 17 visited Haldibari, which is in Cooch Behar district and near the Bangladesh border, to check the arrangements for the service.

It has been a longstanding demand of Bangladeshi citizens and north Bengal residents. Hundreds of Bangladeshis visit North Bengal every year for medical, education and tourism purposes.

Trains used to run between then East Pakistan and India through Haldibari and Chilahati which is near the Indian border and in the Nilphamari district of Bangladesh, till 1965.

Couple of years ago, steps were taken by both the countries to resume train services along the route. Accordingly, infrastructure was developed on either side of the border, tracks laid till the zero point and trial runs were conducted.

Finally, Prime Ministers of both the countries inaugurated the railway route for the movement of goods trains in December 2020, after a hiatus of 55 years.

Since then, trains carrying different items have been moving between India and Bangladesh through the route.

On March 27, 2021, Hasina and Modi virtually inaugurated the service of Mitali Express, a passenger train that will connect Dhaka with New Jalpaiguri.

“However, as the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic hit the globe, the train could not run for a single day. Now that the situation has improved, there is a plan to start the passenger train service on March 26 from Dhaka,” said a source in the NFR, according to reports.

Reports added, Mitali Express will be a bi-weekly train. It will leave New Jalpaiguri on Sundays and Wednesdays and Dhaka on Mondays and Thursdays. It will will have four AC cabin coaches and AC chair cars each.

“The train to NJP will facilitate convenient travel as passengers can reach Siliguri from Dhaka in 12 hours or so and need not take a turnaround route,” said Pradip Chakraborty, a retired railway employee, according to reports.

The train service has also rejuvenated the hopes of tourism stakeholders in the region. They said most of the foreign tourists who visited north Bengal were Bangladeshis and the number was likely to go up in the coming days.

“Since 2018, Sikkim has been opened for Bangladeshis and many have started visiting the Himalayan state. The passenger train service would be an added advantage for them as it would cut down their transport costs,” said Samrat Sanyal, General Secretary, Himalayan Hospitality and Tourism Development Network, as per reports.

Also, many residents of north Bengal have their roots in Bangladesh and they want to visit the country. They can avail themselves of the train service and reach Dhaka directly, he added.

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