Indian Railway rejects BD's 2nd Maitree train proposal

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Munima Sultana The Indian railway authorities turned down Bangladesh's proposal of introducing a 2nd Maitree train from Khulna to Kolkata through Darshana on the ground that the railway track on the Indian side was already overburdened, officials said. They, however, suggested that Bangladesh should explore the possibility of introducing the train service through Benapole in Jessore. But the Bangladesh Railway (BR) does not think the Indian proposal is viable. "Rejection of the proposal by the Indian Railway officials will eventually lead to a negative outcome for Bangladesh, as the Indian side will count opinions of their officials during the next Inter-government Railway Meeting (IGRM)," said a BR official. The BR and the Indian Railway Board during the last IGRM held in New Delhi on January 14-16 took formed a working committee to look into Bangladesh's proposal of introducing the 2nd Maitree Express following the popularity of the first cross-border train service. The working group, formed comprising members from the two sides, was assigned to make recommendation on the 2nd proposed route-Darshana-Bonga-Shialdah-after conducting a feasibility study. Later both Bangladesh and Indian field-level railway officials under the working committee initiative inspected the route on September 21, 22 and 23 and then the proposal on the alternative and lengthy route was placed. The Maitree Express was introduced in 2008 between Dhaka and Kolkata after over 40 years since suspension of train service between the two Bengali-speaking cities. The first Maitree Express initially attracted passengers. But later the service gained in popularity with addressing the complexities like the hazardous visa procedure and border formalities. A BR official said Bangladesh proposed the second route as it is closer than the Benapole route and a good number of people including businessmen travel to the West Bengal capital frequently. He said the proposed and alternative routes vary in length almost by 100 kilometres which may increase the fuel and other operational costs.