Dhaka: Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina inaugurated a passenger train connecting Dhaka and New Jalpaiguri via video conference on Saturday.
Named ‘Mitali Express’, the train was jointly inaugurated at 6.38 pm (local time) from Hasina’s office, Bangladeshi news website BanglaNews24.com reported.
Bangladesh is celebrating the golden jubilee of its Independence and also the birth centenary of its founder, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The Mitali Express will originate at Dhaka Cantonment and terminate at New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, crossing Chilahati, a border station in Bangladesh.
The bi-weekly train with 10 coaches — four AC cabins, four AC chair cars and two power car brake vans — will run from New Jalpaiguri on Sunday and Wednesday, and from Dhaka Cantonment on Monday and Thursday.
As both countries had suspended regular railway services following the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the service will start only after normalcy is restored.
This is the third passenger train between the neighbouring nations. The other two are Maitree Express, between Dhaka and Kolkata, and Bandhan Express between Khulna and Kolkata.
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