Maitree Express

·         On April 14, 2008 after a gap of over four decades, rail services between Kolkata and Dhaka resumed with the simultaneous launch of “Maitree Express” from here and Bangladeshi capital Dhaka in a move aimed a strengthening ties between the two neighbours.

·         The six-coach train began its nearly 15-hour historic run from a station in north Kolkata for Dhaka at 7.10 hours as external affairs Pranab Mukherjee gave the go-ahead signal through a remote control on ‘Poila Baisakh,’ the Bengali new year’s day.

·         Simultaneously in Dhaka, the Dhaka-Kolkata service left the cantonment station after officials greeted passengers with flowers.
The rail connection between Kolkata and Dhaka was snapped during the 1965 Indo-Pak conflict when Bangladesh was part of Pakistan.

·         However, India and Bangladesh in 1996 resumed direct bus service linking Kolkata and Dhaka.

·         The Moitree (friendship) Express will cover 538-km running 120 km on the Indian soil and the rest in Bangladeshi territory.

·          With the Indian rake having a capacity of 368 passengers and the Bangladeshi one 418, the service will leave their respective starting points on Saturdays and return the next day. 

·         In Sept 2003 a new bus route connecting Bangladesh to the Indian state of Tripura started operations.

·         The new route provides India with a direct land route to its eastern states, which are cut off from the rest of the country by Bangladesh.

·         For India, the route is a potentially a significant development because Delhi has long wanted to improve road links to its remote and inaccessible far eastern states.