After a pause of 26 months, India and Bangladesh are set to resume train services

After a pause of 26 months due to the coronavirus pandemic, train services between India and Bangladesh will resume soon.

The Maitri Express between Dhaka and Kolkata and the Bandhan Express between Kolkata and Khulna will resume on May 29, the Indian High Commission in Dhaka said in a statement. Maitri Express will start from Dhaka and Bandhan Express from Kolkata.

The cross border train services were halted on Mar 15, as the coronavirus pandemic broke out.

The newly inaugurated Mitali Express on the Dhaka-Jalpaiguri route will start running on Jun 1.

In a virtual bilateral meeting in 2020, the prime ministers of both countries inaugurated a project to reopen the rail link. Passenger train Mitali Express was introduced on Mar 27, 2021.

It was scheduled to run between Dhaka and Jalpaiguri twice a week at that time, but the authorities could not start it due to the coronavirus pandemic.

After the partition of British India in 1947, seven rail links existed between India and Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan) until 1965.

The new train will leave Jalpaiguri after the prime ministers of both countries inaugurate it virtually.