Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina are all set to relaunch the India-Bangaladesh railway line, after a gap of 55 years.
The India-Bangladesh cross-border railway route is set to be re-opened in virtual mode.
On December 17, 2020, Modi and Hasina will inaugurate the virtual programme, an official of the Northeast Frontier Railway said.
With the relaunch of the rail route between Haldibari in West Bengal and Chilahati in Bangladesh, people of both the neighbouring countries will be able to travel through trains crossing the international border.
The railway route from Haldibari in Cooch Behar to Chilahati in Bangladesh has remained non-functional after the rail connection between India and then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) had snapped in 1965.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate Haldibari-Chilahati rail route on December 17,” Northeast Frontier Railway chief public relations officer Subhanan Chanda said in a statement.
The NFR CPRO said a goods train will run from Chilahati to Haldibari, which is under the Katihar division of the NRF.
A media report quoted Katihar Divisional Railway manager Ravinder Kumar Verma as saying that the Union external affairs ministry on Tuesday informed the authorities about the decision to reopen the rail route.
The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said the distance between Haldibari railway station up to the international border is 4.5 km.
The distance from Chilahati in Bangladesh till the zero point on the international border is around 7.5 km, the NFR said.