AMN / WEB DESK
Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Bangladesh’s Railway Minister Mohammad Nurul Islam Sujon flagged off Mitali Express between New Jalpaiguri and Dhaka via video conferencing. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Vaishnaw said the relationship between India and Bangladesh is based upon shared heritage, shared present and shared future between the two countries.
The development that both the countries having is today accelerated in a very big way by the warm friendship between the two nations at all levels. Mr Vaishnaw said, Mitali Express will be yet another milestone in increasing friendship, in strengthening this bond, in improving the relationship.
The Dhaka-Jalpaiguri Mitali Express is the third Bangladesh-India passenger train service.
The train will use the Chilahati-Haldibari rail link and will run from New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, India, to Dhaka Cantonment railway station in Bangladesh, covering a distance of 513km.
Mitali Express will run two days a week on Sunday and Wednesday from New Jalpaiguri Junction and from Dhaka Cantonment the train will run every Monday and Thursday.
The non-stop passenger train with ten compartments, Mitali Express, was inaugurated by the prime ministers of both countries on March 26 last year. Both the ministers said, the commencement of Mitali Express will further flourish the relationship for trade and travel between the two neighbours, improving accessibility and connectivity.
The fully air-conditioned biweekly train Mitali Express will connect North-East India with Bangladesh providing the people of Bangladesh easy access to tourist destinations across North East India.
Flagging off the train, Railway Minister Sujan expressed the hope that the biweekly train will be upgraded to 5-days a week to meet the demand of the passengers travelling from Bangladesh to India. He sought India’s cooperation in improving the railway infrastructure of Bangladesh like the conversion of the railway line to broad gauge.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav assured Bangladesh of full cooperation in its endeavour to modernise the railways. He described the launch of Mitali Express as yet another milestone in the friendship between the two countries.
He said close to 25 percent of the USD 8 billion Line of Credit (LOC) extended by India for Bangladesh is linked to the 17 railway projects being run by India.