Railways have decided to suspend the services of Kolkata-Dhaka Maitree Express for two days from October 15 on the request of Bangladesh Railway to avoid operational complications arising due to stoppage of train operations in that country on Eid festival.
The bi-weekly train between Kolkata and Dhaka will not run on October 15 and 16 due to Eid festival, said a senior Railway Ministry official.
The official said it has been done on the request of Bangladesh Railway to avoid operational complications arising due to stoppage of train operations in Dhaka during the festival.
The train runs from Kolkata on every Tuesday and Saturday while in the return direction it departs from Dhaka every Wednesday and Sunday.
Meanwhile, railways is planning to introduce the facility for booking of return tickets in Maitree Express.
"Steps are being taken to introduce the system of booking return tickets by Maitree Express," the official said.
India and Bangladesh had signed a Memorandum of Understanding on February 16, 2013 in Dhaka for construction of a new rail link between Akhaura (Bangladesh) and Agartala (India).
In order to improve trade through railways, the two Railways are jointly working towards containerisation of cargo and setting up suitable rail-linked Inland Container Depots to handle the cargo.
Out of the 16 projects that have been included in the USD 800 million Indian Line of Credit to Bangladesh, 13 are railway projects amounting to USD 687.4 million. Projects include procurement of rolling stock and development of infrastructure.
