By IANS
Kolkata : Bilateral talks to resume a train service between Kolkata and Dhaka reached the final stage Monday with a visiting delegation from Bangladesh ironing out several constraints on the issue with their Indian counterparts.
"We have completed our final level talks today and representatives from both countries addressed certain issues in the meeting. Both India and Bangladesh are ready to run the train as soon as possible," Union Additional Secretary of Home Affairs A.E. Ahmed told reporters here after holding talks with Bangladesh officials.
Though no specific date has been finalised yet regarding the commencement of the cross-border Moitree Express train, after their meeting Monday both sides were committed to address every single constraint, he said.
At the meeting, held at Eastern Railway headquarters, both sides discussed issues relating to security concerns, composition of railway coaches, infrastructure, immigration and frequency of the service.
A team of Bangladesh officials, headed by Additional Communication Secretary of Bangladesh government A.T.K.M. Ismail, arrived in Kolkata Sunday on a trial run of the Moitree Express.
Ismail said the infrastructure on the Indian side was much better than it was in his country.
"We are more concerned about our infrastructure and immigration related issues which we have discussed in today's meeting." Ismail said, adding that Bangladesh had already imported all the coaches of Moitree Express from Indonesia.
The train will cover the 416 km distance between Kolkata and Dhaka carrying about 300 passengers.
Asked about the specific date of starting the service, Ahmed said both sides were ready for it and were only waiting for the final go-ahead.
"We are ready to start the train service now. The final decision would only be taken by both the ministries, and we are waiting for their go-ahead signal," he said, adding that initially the name of the train would be Moitree Express but it could be changed later after mutual discussions.
The Dhaka-Kolkata train service had stopped in 1965 after the India-Pakistan war when Bangladesh was East Pakistan.