The highly-anticipated Khulna-Mongla Port rail line and the Akhaura-Agartala railway link were virtually inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on November 1.
"It is a matter of happiness that we have come together to celebrate the success of India-Bangladesh cooperation. Our relations are touching new heights," said PM Modi on the occasion. According to him, three new rail services were started in the last few years. “Since 2020, container and partial trains have been running between India and Bangladesh. In the last nine years, inland waterways have been developed for transport of passengers and goods," said the prime minister.
The 7.9-km rail line from Akhaura to Agartala and a new 64-km Khulna–Mongla Port rail line both aim for acceleration of passengers and goods transport with India and its neighbouring countries.
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The Akhaura-Agartala Cross-Border Rail Link, spanning a total length of 12.24 km, was executed with an Indian grant of Rs 392.52 crore to Bangladesh. This project features a 6.78 km dual gauge rail line in Bangladesh and 5.46 km in Tripura.
At present, the rail route from Agartala to Kolkata is around 1,600 kilometres and takes 38 hours. Now those commuting from Kolkata to Agartala can cover the distance in only 10 hours via Dhaka.
Sunindra Chaudhury, an executive engineer of the Indian Railways, has been cited in The Indian Express, "For goods trains, the line will be opened very soon but for passenger trains, there are some formalities that need to be observed by the Indian Railways and the Bangladesh Railway Board."
The Khulna-Mongla Port Rail Line, with a total project cost of USD $388.92 million under a Government of India concessional Line of Credit, involved the construction of approximately 65 km of broad gauge rail route. This initiative connects Mongla, Bangladesh's second-largest port, to the broad-gauge railway network in Khulna. This project will enhance the operations of Mongla Port. It will boost the connectivity of Bangladesh with India, Nepal and Bhutan. The rail link will establish a connection between Mongla Port and Siliguri in India through Panchagarh and Banglabandha in the north.
According to reports, Tripura shared an 856 km-long international border with Bangladesh. However, parts of it were still unfenced owing to local disputes. The state’s only road connectivity with the rest of the country is through Assam and a narrow strip of land in West Bengal’s Siliguri.
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