Kolkata-Dhaka rail 'Maitree' restored after 43 yrs

After a gap of over four decades, rail services between Kolkata and Dhaka resumed today with the simultaneous launch of Maitree Express in a move aimed to strengthen ties between the two neighbours.

The six-coach train began its nearly 15-hour historic run from a station in north Kolkata for Dhaka at 07:10 hours after getting the go-ahead signal from External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on "Poila Baisakh", the Bengali new year.

Simultaneously, in the Bangladeshi capital, the Dhaka-Kolkata train left the Dhaka Cantonment station. The rail connection between Kolkata and Dhaka was snapped during the 1965 Indo-Pak conflict when Bangladesh was part of Pakistan. However, India and Bangladesh in 1996 resumed direct bus service linking Kolkata and Dhaka.

The Maitree (friendship) Express will cover 538 km, running 120 km on Indian soil and the rest in Bangladeshi territory. With the Indian rake having a capacity of 368 passengers and the Bangladeshi one 418, the trains will leave their respective starting points on Saturdays and return the next day.

Describing the occasion as memorable, Mukherjee said the service would bring the two countries closer. He also thanked Railway Minister Lalu Prasad at the function for introducing the train.

"It's a historic moment for India and Bangladesh," Mukherjee said, as the train with 65 passengers on board left Kolkata's Chitpur station.

Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said, "It is a historic occasion for both the countries. We will be more close after the resumption of passenger train service."

The Bangladeshi train, which has both economy and air-conditioned coaches, left Dhaka with 370 passengers. Bangladesh's interim government's advisers, including commerce and local government ministries, India's High Commissioner in Dhaka Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty and senior officials attended the flag-off ceremony.

The two countries had signed the final agreement for resuming the train services earlier this week, after the respective cabinets had endorsed the accord.

At the function here, Mukherjee, accepting a suggestion from Information Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, said he would take the initiative to celebrate on-board Maitree Express, the birth and death anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranth Tagore who had the rare distinction of composing the national anthems of both the countries.

Describing it as a historic day for both India and Bangladesh, Lalu Prasad said the UPA government had taken initiative to strengthen ties with Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries to ensure peace without which prosperity could not be achieved.

Meanwhile, on its inaugural run, the train was briefly stopped in Nadia district in West Bengal by a group of people who squatted on the track demanding rehabilitation of Bangladeshi refugees.

It, however, resumed its journey without the need of any security personnel to remove the blockade. Reports from Nadia said 87 people, including 11 women, were arrested for blocking the train.