The much-awaited new railway line between India and Bangladesh along Tripura will be operational in June next year, officials said here on Monday quoting Bangladesh Railway Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujan. The 12.24 km rail project between Agartala (India) and Akhaura (Bangladesh) is being carried out with a grant from India.
A representative of the Tripura government stated that the Bangladeshi Minister of Railways had visited the Bangladeshi side of the Agartala-Akhaura rail project and told the media that the new railway project would be in operation by June of next year.
The new railway line between the two countries is very important for both the neighbours, the official quoted the Bangladeshi Minister as saying. Sujan stated that opening the new rail line would strengthen connectivity between the two countries and would boost trade and commerce among the two nations as well as facilitate the movement of people.
The minister has assured that there will be no more delay in making the line operational since most of the work on this route has now been completed.
Of the total length of 12.24 km, 6.78 km falls in Bangladesh’s territory, and the remaining 5.46 km of the portion is in Tripura.
The Maligaon-headquartered Northeast Frontier Railway (NF Railway) is the nodal agency of the Rs 1,000 crore Agartala-Akhaura railway project, which was finalized in January 2010 when Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina met then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during her visit to New Delhi.
NF Railway officials in Agartala said that more than 80 percent of the work on the railway project on the Indian side has already been finished.
With the commissioning of the Agartala-Akhaura railway project, Especially Tripura and the southern parts of Assam and Mizoram can go to Kolkata by train, saving 22 hours of travel time.
Currently, residents of the region, especially those of Tripura and its adjacent areas, travel to Kolkata via Guwahati, spending more than 38 hours.
