Third passenger train between India and B'desh flagged off
Darjeeling: The third passenger train between Bangladesh and India was flagged off through video conferencing from Rail Bhawan, New Delhi, jointly by Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Bangladesh's Railway Minister Mohammad Nurul Islam Sujon.
Mitali Express will be plying between New Jalpaiguri (NJP) railway station in the northern part of the State of West Bengal, India, and Dhaka Cantonment railway station in Bangladesh. Tourism of this region is expected to benefit greatly from this train service.
"Mitali Express is yet another milestone in friendship; strengthening the bond and improving the relationship that both the countries have been sharing," stated Vaishnaw. The international train will cover a distance of 595km out of which 61km falls in Indian territory and the rest in Bangladesh. It will take 7 hours to cover this distance.
The train has two stoppages, one at Haldibari, the last station on the Indian side and Chilahati, the first station on the Bangladesh side for a change of drivers. Till the 0 point the BSF and RPF will guard the train and the Border Guards of Bangladesh on the Bangladesh side.
The train from NJP to Dhaka, 13132 will be running on Sundays and Wednesdays. 13131, the train from Dhaka to NJP will be running on Mondays and Thursdays. Bangladesh Railway Minister Sujon urged that the biweekly train be upgraded to 5-days a week to meet the demand of the Bangladeshi passengers travelling to India. He also sought India's cooperation in improving the railway infrastructure of Bangladesh including conversion of the railway lines to broad gauge. The train will depart from NJP at 11:45 am (IST) and will reach Dhaka at 10:30pm (Bangladesh Time.)
Tickets will cost 22 US$ plus 5 per cent GST for Ac Chair Car and 33 US $ plus 5 per cent GST in the AC First Class from NJP to Dhaka. From Dhaka to NJP it will be 22$ for the Chair Car and 44$ for First Class. Public representatives of this region along with North East Frontier Railway officials were present at the flagging off ceremony of the Mitali Express on Wednesday at the NJP station. "There were 18 passengers on the maiden run." added Anshul Gupta, General Manager of Northeast Frontier Railway. The train will depart from Platform 1A. An Immigration counter has been opened up in the platform. Tickets for this international train will not be available online but are available at the overseas PRS counters of New Jalpaiguri and Kolkata Railway Station.
