DHAKA: Removing the ‘last obstacle’ to starting the long-awaited India-Bangladesh direct passenger train service, the two countries have decided to begin the Dhaka-Kolkata train on the first day of the Bengali New Year, Pahela Baishakh, on April 14.
“The Indian High Commission has informed us that the Central government has turned down the West Bengal government’s plea to re-fix the date,” Bangladesh Communications Secretary Mahbubur Rahman told journalists.
The launching of the train on the Bengali New Year day became uncertain after the West Bengal government requested the Centre last week to defer the date to the last week of May. The plea was that the programme might violate the code of conduct for the panchayat elections scheduled for that month.
Railway officials of the two countries are giving final touches to the plan in Dhaka, and thrashing out some unsettled issues. The ‘Moitree Express,’ which can carry 370 passengers, will run between Dhaka Cantonment and Chitpur in Kolkata through the Darshana border once a week from both the sides.
A train each will leave Dhaka and Kolkata on Saturdays and start the return journey on Sundays. The fares will be between $8 (Indian Rupee 319) and $20 (Rs. 797) depending on classes for the 538-km journey — 418 km in Bangladesh and 120 km in India. India has already set up infrastructure such as customs and immigration facilities, passengers’ waiting halls and other related facilities at the Gede station
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