New Delhi: ThePrint has learned that the Agartala-Akhaura rail line project, which will connect India’s northeastern state of Tripura with Bangladesh, is expected to be operational by the end of this year.
The 15-km-long project, which was approved in 2003 and signed by the two countries in 2013, aims to increase bilateral trade and tourism, as well as reduce travel time between Agartala and Kolkata via Dhaka Is. Its foundation stone was laid in 2016. Once operational, the travel time between Agartala and Kolkata via Dhaka will be reduced from 31 hours to 10 hours, Sabyasachi Dey, chief public relations officer (CPRO), Northeast Frontier Railway, told ThePrint on Friday.
Of the 15 km long link, 33.52 per cent (5.05 km) is in India and the remaining 10.014 km is in Bangladesh. The project was originally scheduled to be completed by 2020, but was delayed due to various reasons including the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project is part of India’s “Act East Policy”, which aims to promote economic cooperation and develop strategic ties with countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The North East has been kept as a priority area in this policy.
The railway line will connect Akhaura Junction railway station in Bangladesh to Agartala via an international immigration station at Nischintapur (which falls on the Indo-Bangladesh border), which will be a dual gauge station for both passenger and goods exchange.
“The Indian Railways portion has a broad gauge system while the Akhaura portion has a meter gauge system,” Dey said.
In broad gauge the distance between the two tracks is 1.676 metres, while in meter gauge system the distance is one metre.
So far, 85 per cent work has been completed on the Indian side of the railway line, while about 75 per cent work has been completed on the Bangladesh side, though “some issue has cropped up regarding its funding”, a source said. The Railway Ministry told ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
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‘Will promote bilateral relations’
Indian Railways has allocated Rs 153.84 crore to augment the work of the remaining portion of the railway link, Dey said in a statement issued on Friday.
The estimated cost of completing the railway link on the Indian side is Rs 862.58 crore, and is funded by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER). He said, out of the total amount, Rs 708.74 crore has been provided.
“With this rail link, we are looking at getting passenger traffic, and in the freight segment, we expect a lot of FMCG products. We also get virtual access to Chittagong, which is a deep sea port in Bangladesh. Once this line is operational, we can get that traffic as well,” D told ThePrint.
As of now, there are five broad gauge routes connecting India and Bangladesh, namely Gede-Darshana, Benapole-Petrapole, Singhabad-Rohanpur, Radhikapur-Birol and Haldibari-Chilahati.
Three passenger trains also run between India and Bangladesh – Kolkata-Dhaka Maitri Express, Kolkata-Khulna Bandhan Express and New Jalpaiguri-Dhaka Mitali Express.
According to Dey, the upcoming rail project will “boost bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh”, help small scale industries grow in the border region and boost tourism in the northeastern region, especially Tripura.
“This will accelerate export and import of goods and help local producers to export their products outside the country faster,” he said.
(Editing by Richa Mishra)
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