Finally there is a good tiding for the passengers of the Kolkata- Dhaka Maitree Express. From November 10 onwards passengers of this train will undergo end-to-end immigration and customs checks. This system however will be implemented initially on a trial basis.
Passengers scheduled to travel from Kolkata to Dhaka by the Maitree Express have been instructed by the Eastern Railway to arrive at the International Passengers’ Railway Terminal at the Kolkata station by 5:10am. The scheduled departure of the train is at 7:10am.
Since inception on ‘Poila Boisakh’ (Bengali New Year’s day) in 2008, passengers of Maitree Express have been undergoing immigration and customs checks at Gede (last railway station on the Indian side) and Dorshona (first station on the Bangladesh side.)
Under this system passengers were made to deboard along with their luggage and undergo customs and immigration checks, which would take hours.
However with the new system, passengers will not be able to deboard the train anytime during the journey.
The train will halt at Gede and Dorshona for technical checks by security forces of the two countries. ‘During the halts the under-carriage of the train will be thoroughly checked by security personnel. The passenger coaches will be locked thereby restricting passenger movement’ stated a Indian Railway official.
The Maitree Express undertakes 375 km journey taking 9 to 10 hours. ‘The end-to-end check will streamline the system, saving both time and inconvenience’ stated Muhammad Habibur Rahaman, Assistant Director General (Operations) Bangladesh Railways.
At present there are four operational rail links between West Bengal and Bangladesh including Petrapole-Beneypole; Gedey-Dorshona; Radhikapur-Biral and Singhabad-Rohanpur.
India and Bangladesh share a 4096km long international border, the 5th longest land border in the world.
The Indian state of West Bengal shares 2217km of the border with Bangladesh; Assam 262 km; Tripura 856km; Mizoram 180km and Meghalaya 2217km.
There are two upcoming railway links between the two nations- Haldibari in the northern part of West Bengal to Chilahati in Bangladesh and Mahisasan in Assam with Shahbazpur in Bangladesh. Three more rail links to connect the two countries have also been proposed.
OneIndia
