BD set to establish second railway link with India

Bangladesh has taken a move to establish second cross-border railway link with India through Akhaura-Agartala frontier in a bid to boost bilateral trade and businesses, officials said Friday.
The Bangladesh Railway (BR) has already undertaken a Tk 4.80 billion project for laying nearly 10 kilometre Akhaura-Agartala dual-gauge railway track to connect with the Indian north-eastern states, they said.
"If the cross-border railway link between Bangladesh and India is set up, it will be the second effective railway corridor of the two neighbouring countries," said a senior ministry of railway (MoR) official.
He said they had already got assurance from India of necessary funds for the railway project. The Indian government is expected to provide nearly Tk 4.23 billion fund as grant.
A senior Indian High Commission official in Dhaka told the FE that they are considering funding of the Akhaura-Agartala railway project.
"We have sought some information from the BR. We are discussing with our Bangladesh counterpart to finalise the financing," the official said without quoting her name.
After five decades of discontinuation of the cross-border train service, the first railway link between Dhaka and Kolkata was re-established in April 2008 through Darshana point in Bangladesh and Gede in India.
Now passengers can easily move from Dhaka to Kolkata (375 kilometre distance) using the Maitree Express every week. The train has capacity to carry 650 passengers daily.  
A senior MoR official said: "They are ready to start the project soon after getting funding confirmation from the Indian side. We have already sent a project proposal to the planning commission."
A planning commission (PC) official, however, said the project would not be approved until the BR confirms the funding by the Indian government.
"The project evaluation committee (PEC) of the PC has taken it into consideration. But the BR has to finalise the fund deal with India first to get approval from the commission," he said.
Officials said India is highly interested to set up the Akhaura-Agartala railway link to establish a cross-border link mainly to be used to carry goods from the Chittagong port to Indian north-eastern seven-sister states.
Besides, the distance from west India to north-east India will be reduced remarkably if the proposed railway line is installed.
The distance between Kolkata and Agartala is 1,700 km. If the railway link is established, the distance would be reduced to 350 km if passengers from here could move through Bangladesh.
The MoR official said: "The proposed train through the Akhaura-Agartala frontier would carry freight first as India wants to use the Chittagong port for its freight trades. Gradually, the route will also be used for passenger services."
During the British rule before 1947, regular over-night trains connected Kolkata, Goalanda, Dhaka and Narayanganj. These three train services-East Bengal Mail, East Bengal Express and the Barisal Express- continued operation between the two countries until 1965, when the outbreak of the Indo-Pakistan conflict of 1965 led to the closure of all passenger train links.
The then railway links between India and Bangladesh that were discontinued over last few decades are Benapole (BD)- Petrapole (India) freight train, Rohanpur (BD)- Singhabad (India) freight train, Birol (BD) - Radhikapur (India) freight train, Chilahati (BD)- Haldibari (India), Buri-mari (BD)- Changra-bandha (India) and Shahbazpur (BD) - Mahishasan (India).
Currently, Bangladesh and India have also cross-border bus services through three frontiers: Dhaka-Kolkata via Benapole border, Dhaka-Shiliguri via Burimari customs point and Dhaka-Agartala via Akhaura customs points.
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