NJP-Dhaka train service from March 26 -a bi-weekly train and will be the third passenger railway service between Bengal and Bangladesh

This marks the commencement of the third passenger train service between the neighbouring country and Bengal

Indian and Bangladeshi railway officials at New Jalpaiguri on Wednesday: Passang Yolmo

Bireswar Banerjee   |   TT   |   Siliguri   |    25.02.21 : A passenger train will chug out of Dhaka in Bangladesh on March 26 and head for New Jalpaiguri, marking the commencement of the third passenger train service between the neighbouring country and Bengal.

“The passenger train service between NJP and the Dhaka Cantonment station will start on March 26. It will be a bi-weekly train and will be the third passenger railway service between Bengal and Bangladesh,” said R.K. Verma, the Katihar divisional railway manager (DRM) of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) here on Wednesday.

In the past two days, DRM-level talks were held between both the countries. Md. Shahidul Islam, DRM of the Paksey railway division of Bangladesh, led the delegation of his country.

According to Verma, the train will leave NJP on every Thursday and Monday while it will depart from Dhaka on Friday and Thursday.

As of now, two trains run between Bengal and Bangladesh. These are the Bandhan Express that runs between Calcutta and Khulna and Maitree Express which plies between Calcutta and Dhaka.

“The NJP-Dhaka route is 513km long and it will be covered in nine hours. The train will not have any stop between NJP and Dhaka Cantonment. It will have 10 coaches and will be run by a diesel loco,” said Verma.

Two air-conditioned coaches, six sleepers and two chair cars will make up the train.

On December 17 last year, goods train service was introduced along the Haldibari-Chilahati route.

Haldibari, which is on the India-Bangladesh border, is in Cooch Behar district of the state, while Chilahati is the first station on the other side of the border, located in the Nilfamari district of the neighbouring country.

After the goods train service was commenced jointly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, there were indications that the passenger train service would begin on March 26, that is, on the Independence Day of Bangladesh. Modi is likely to be present in Dhaka on that day, sources said.

“The running staff will change on the international border. As far as immigration and other formalities of passengers are concerned, those would be carried out both in Dhaka and NJP. The fares, however, are yet to be worked out,” a railway official said. The train, sources said, will reach Haldibari from NJP via Jalpaiguri Town. It would then enter Bangladesh and reach Dhaka via Chilahati, Jaidebpur, Parbatipur, Shantahar and Tangail.

“Our relations have always remained cordial and we believe the new train service would strengthen our ties. The train service can also help Bangladeshi residents visit any tourist destination,” said Islam.

The delegation of the Bangladesh Railway had been to Darjeeling on Tuesday.