An Indian railway train on a trial run arrived in Bangladesh on Sunday, in a step toward resuming a service between the two neighbours suspended some 42 years ago, officials said. Bangladesh hopes a regular passenger train service will be launched by mid-August to link its capital Dhaka to Kolkata, capital of India's West Bengal state 375 km away.
The trial train with 30 officials from Kolkata was received by Bangladesh railway officials at Darshana, a border entry point.
The train, called "Moitree" (Friendship), then headed towards Dhaka and was likely to reach a city station in late afternoon.
"Bangladesh has taken enough security measures for the Indian trial train, so that none can cause any obstacle in efforts to consolidate ties between our two countries," A T M lsmail, a Bangladesh communications ministry official, told Reuters. Bangladesh will soon send a train to Kolkata on a similar trial run, before finalising the service, he said.
The security, immigration and customs arrangements crucial for such a cross-border service would be fixed in a two-day meeting between the countries' officials this week.
The train service was suspended after the 1965 war between India and Pakistan, when Bangladesh was Pakistan's eastern province. The service was not restored even after Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971.
Presently there are separate direct bus services linking Dhaka with Kolkata and Agartala, capital of India's north-eastern Tripura state.
Officials said nearly 3,000 people from the two countries legally travel across the borders daily. Bangladesh and India share 4,000 km (2,500 miles) of common border.
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