By Soudhriti Bhabani, IANS
Kolkata : When a train chugs out of Kolkata for Dhaka in September, it will be an emotional journey on wheels that people of Bangladesh and India have waited for over four decades to make.
The much-awaited India-Bangladesh rail service is finally set to become a reality with Kolkata getting connected with its cultural counterpart, Dhaka.
"We are ready to run the Indo-Bangladesh friendship train from Kolkata to Joydebpur, 35 km from Dhaka, tentatively in September. We haven't received any specific communiqué from them," railway spokesman Deepak Jha told IANS.
He said there were some security constraints that were currently being sorted out by the external affairs and home ministries.
According to Eastern Railway sources, the weekly train, expected to cover 345 km between Kolkata and Dhaka, will have six coaches, including one air-conditioned chair car and a pantry.
Both trains will probably start from each side on Sundays. The journey will take about 12 hours and the fare will range between Rs.300 and Rs.800.
Kamral Hassain, first secretary of the Bangladesh deputy high commission here, is enthusiastic about the service. He said the Bangladesh government was keen to launch the train at the earliest.
"Every year almost 600,000 Bangladeshis come to India. In comparison only 80,000-90,000 Indians go to Bangladesh. After resuming the train service we expect that more people would travel between the two countries," he said.
He added that Indians were more used to commuting by railways. Hence after this service begins, "we are expecting a good rush from this side to Bangladesh".
Hassain said: "A team of top Bangladesh officials is coming to West Bengal for a trial run July 29. They are supposed to sit for another round of discussions here on security measures."
A similar trial run was also done July 8 from Kolkata to Bangladesh, carrying a 14-member Indian delegation led by India's Additional Home Secretary A.E. Ahmed.
The intelligentsia of Kolkata is all for the train that will connect the two Bengals.
"It's a wonderful and people-friendly gesture. People from both countries will benefit culturally and it will strengthen their bonds," said noted writer Nabanita Deb Sen.
The name of the train has not been finalised but it may be called Moitre Express (Friendship Express). The train will cover 122 km in the Indian side, from Kolkata to the Gede railway station, Jha said.
"Indian Railways has provided the minimum infrastructure required for running the train. But later we will keep developing the facilities at Gede as there is only one terminal there," he said.
Jha pointed out that the trans-national train would have to wait for about two hours at Gede if the number of platforms were not increased.
The train service between India and Bangladesh was suspended in 1965 after the India-Pakistan war. Then known as East Pakistan, Bangladesh became a free country in 1971.
The only bottleneck now seems to be security worries.
Keeping in mind the increasing illegal influx from Bangladesh, the Border Security Force (BSF) will construct fencing along both sides of the track on the Indian side.
"The fencing will be extended up to the international border and there will also be patrolling in the fenced-off area," said a BSF official.
(Soudhriti Bhabani can be contacted at [email protected])