Passenger train service with India likely to resume by 26 March

Passenger train service between Bangladesh and India is likely to be restored by 26 March after a two-year halt, Bangladesh Railway officials said.

The railway ministry has called an inter-ministerial meeting next Sunday to confirm the date, officials said.

The meeting has been scheduled after the Indian Railway wrote to Bangladesh asking to resume the passenger train service between the two neighbouring countries, Sardar Shahadat Ali, additional director-general (operation) at Bangladesh Railway, told the media on Thursday.

Passenger train services between Bangladesh and India were suspended in March 2020 following the onset of the coronavirus.

Before the suspension, two trains operated between the countries - Maitree Express on the Dhaka-Kolkata route and Bandhan Express on the Khulna-Kolkata route. 

According to media reports, a third passenger train, Mitali Express, is expected to begin operating between Dhaka and West Bengal's New Jalpaiguri later this month.

Maitree Express is the first modern-day, fully air-conditioned international express train service connecting Dhaka to Kolkata.

Launched in 2008, it is also the first train to operate between the countries since the partition of India by the British in 1947. Later in 2017, Bandhan Express was launched on the Khulna-Kolkata route.