1 Trains from (RDP)RADHIKAPUR to (AZ)AZIMGANJ JN

To further strengthen bilateral relationship, 20 Broad Gauge (BG) locomotives were virtually flagged off to Bangladesh in a handing over ceremony held today at Rail Bhavan New Delhi, by Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways. From the Bangladesh end, Minister of Railway, Md. Nurul Islam Sujan also joined in virtually. The event was attended by Shri A.K.Lahoti, Chairman & CEO, Railway Board, Board Members, senior officials of Railway Board and delegates of Bangladesh.

The handing over of these diesel locomotives, under grant assistance from the Government of India, fulfills an important commitment made during the visit of Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina to India, in October, 2019. In keeping with the requirements of Bangladesh Railway, the locomotives have been suitably modified by the Indian side. These locomotives will help handle the increasing volume of passenger and freight train operations in Bangladesh.

Speaking o­n this occasion, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “India’s relationship with Bangladesh is civilizational, cultural, social and economic. Prime Ministers of both the countries are playing proactive role to improve bilateral relationship across social, economic and political sectors. Indian Railways are also playing a vital role in improving and strengthening rail connectivity across the border and improving trade between both the countries. As of now, five BG connectivity are operational, namely Geda- Darsana, Benapol- Petrapol, Singhabad- Rohanpur, Radhikapur- Birol and Haldibari-Chilahati. Work o­n two more cross border rail connectivities, Akhaura-Agartala and Mahihasan-Shahbazpur are progressing well and are likely to be completed and commissioned shortly.”

Addressing the gathering virtually, Minister of Railway, Bangladesh Mr. Md. Nurul Islam Sujan said, “I express my gratitude to the Indian Government for their support. Previously in June 2020 Indian Government provided 10 locomotives to Bangladesh as grant. We express our heartfelt gratitude to India for providing broad gauge locomotives. The supply of locomotives will help to improve both goods and passenger trains. We hope that existing collaboration between two countries regarding Railways sector will increase day by day.”

To enhance people to people contact, presently three pairs of passenger trains between India and Bangladesh, namely, Kolkata-Dhaka Maitree Express, Kolkata-Khulna Bandhan Express and New Jalpaiguri- Dhaka Mitali Express are running.

Trade between both the countries via rail have seen consistent growth with interchange of close to 100 cargo trains per month and approximately 2.66 MT cargo was sent to Bangladesh in the last financial year. The export commodities are Stone, DOC, Foodgrains, China Clay, Gypsum, Maize, o­nion and other essential items, as and when required, from India. Since 2020 permission has been given to operate parcel container and NMG rakes which normally carry agricultural products, fabrics, finished goods, light commercial vehicles and tractors. A new traffic of geo-synthetic bags has just started and 3 Parcel trains have been sent from Gujarat.

In line with Indian commitment to improve Rail service in Bangladesh, 10 BG Diesel locomotives were handed over to Bangladesh o­n grant basis in July 2020. As reported by Bangladesh, these locomotives are performing well and contributing well in smooth movement rail traffic in Bangladesh.

Maligaon, 17^th May, 2023:

Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has been continuously striving to provide a safer, faster and more comfortable travelling experience to the people of the North Eastern region. For that the conventional ICF model rake of train no. 02502/02501 (Agartala – Kolkata - Agartala) special has been converted to a fully Air Conditioned LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch)rake. The train with LHB coaches was flagged off o­n 17^th May, 2023 from Agartala Railway Station at 07:30 hrs by Kumari Pratima Bhoumik, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment. Shri Prem Ranjan Kumar, Divisional Railway Manager, Lumding along with other senior officials of division were also present at Agartala Railway Station during the flagging off ceremony.

The train no. 02502 (Agartala - Kolkata) special will depart from Agartala o­n every Wednesday for eight trips from 17^th May to 05^thJuly, 2023 at 07:30 hours to reach Kolkata at 15:00 hours o­n the next day. In return direction, train no. 02501 (Kolkata – Agartala) special will depart from Kolkata o­n every Sunday for eight trips from 21^st May to 09^thJuly, 2023 at 21:40 hours to reach Agartala at 05:15 hours o­n Tuesday.

During it’s both ways journey, the special train will run via New Karimganj Jn., New Haflong, Guwahati, Goalpara Town, New Alipurduar, New Jalpaiguri Jn, Kishanganj, Malda Town, Azimganj Jn and Bandel Jn. The train will run with a revised composition consisting of 13 LHB coaches. It will have eleven state of the art AC-3 Economy Class coaches for the convenience of the passengers with two Luggage cum Generator coaches.

The newly converted coaches will be of LHB rake with AC-3 Economy coaches which is safer and more comfortable as compared to the earlier ICF coaches. These coaches have improved and modular design of seats and berth. The AC-3 Economy has 2 side berths, making it a total of 8 berths per compartment, thereby leading to increased number of seats. Moreover, the fare structure for AC-3 Economy is roughly 8% lesser than 3 AC coaches. So, passengers can travel in much cheaper than 3 AC coaches.

Further, the services of train no. 02518/02517 (Guwahati – Kolkata – Guwahati) has been extended for another eight trips. The train no. 02518 (Guwahati - Kolkata) special will depart from Guwahati o­n every Saturday for eight trips from 20^th May to 08^th July, 2023 at 21:00 hours to reach Kolkata at 15:00 hours o­n the next day. In return direction, train no. 02517 (Kolkata – Guwahati) special will depart from Kolkata o­n every Thursday for eight trips from 18^th May to 06^th July, 2023 at 21:40 hours to reach Guwahati at 16:15 hours o­n the next day.

The details of stoppages and timings of these trains are available at IRCTC website and through NTES and are also being notified in various newspapers and social media platforms of N.F. Railway. Passengers are requested to verify the details before undertaking their journey.