‘Maitree & Bandhan Express remain cancelled until further notice’

Kolkata: The Eastern Railway (ER) announced on Wednesday that the Kolkata-Dhaka-Kolkata Maitree Express and Kolkata-Khulna-Kolkata Bandhan Express will remain cancelled until further advice.

Services of the Maitree Express and Bandhan Express have been halted since July this year due to the situation that arose in Bangladesh as a result of student protests.

Until now, Eastern Railway had been issuing day-to-day cancellation notices for the express trains based on communications received from Bangladesh Railways.

However, ER has now declared these train services cancelled indefinitely.

The Maitree Express, comprising one rake from Indian Railway and one from Bangladesh Railway, operated from Dhaka to Kolkata on Fridays, Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.

The trains from Kolkata to Dhaka ran on Saturdays, Mondays, Wednesdays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. Additionally, the bi-weekly Bandhan Express operated on Thursdays and Sundays. The ER’s official statement cited ‘uncertainty in the availability of rakes’ as the primary reason for the indefinite suspension of services of these express trains.