Prime Minister Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated a 3.5 km railway link between Haldibari (India) and Chilahati (Bangladesh) along with Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh on Thursday. The inauguration was done at a virtual bi-lateral summit.
Later in the day, a goods train was flagged off by the Railway Minister of Bangladesh Md. Nurul Islam Sujan from Chilahati station which entered India passing through the international border.
The line opening follows the joint declaration in the Inter-Governmental Railway Meeting (IGRM) held in Delhi in May, 2015.
The Railway Board sanctioned the construction of a new BG line from Haldibari station to Bangladesh Border for further connection with Chilahati (Bangladesh) [Length – 3.50 km] in 2016-17 in order to restore this erstwhile rail link.
Indian Railways (IR) has restored the tracks up to international border from Haldibari station at a cost of Rs. 82.72 crore.
Bangladesh Railways has also undertaken up-gradation and laying of tracks on their side from Chilahati station to international border. In addition, the existing line on the Bangladesh side between Chilahati – Parbatipur – Santahar – Darshana is already in broad gauge.
Benefits
Haldibari – Chilahati route will be beneficial for transit into Bangladesh from Assam and West Bengal. This will enhance rail network accessibility to the main ports, dry ports, and land borders besides supporting growth in regional trade
Once passenger traffic starts, common people, tourists and businessmen of both the countries will be able to travel seamlessly.
History
India and East Pakistan ( which later became Bangladesh in 1971) had seven railway links after partition in 1947 including Haldibari- Chilahati. These rail links were operational until 1965.
Presently, there are four operational rail links between India and Bangladesh. They are:-Petrapole (India) – Benapole (Bangladesh), Gede (India) – Darshana (Bangladesh), Singhabad (India)-Rohanpur (Bangladesh), and Radhikapur (India)–Birol (Bangladesh).
Indo Bangladesh fifth rail link
The Haldibari – Chilahati rail link being made functional from December 17,2020 is the fifth rail link between India and Bangladesh. This was part of the broad gauge main route from Kolkata to Siliguri during partition.
Trains traveling to Assam and North Bengal continued to travel through the then East Pakistan territory even after partition. For example, a train from Sealdah to Siliguri used to enter East Pakistan territory from Darshana and exit using the Haldibari – Chilahati link, a classic example being Darjeeling Mail.
However, the war of 1965 effectively cut off all the railway links between India and the then East Pakistan.