Bangladeshi minister to attend Indo-Bangla railway programme

AGARTALA: Bangladeshi Railway Minister Md Mujibal Haque will be present here at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Agartala-Akhaura (Bangladesh) rail track on July 31, an NF Railway official said.

At the same programme, his Indian counterpart Suresh Prabhu will flag off the regular broad gauge train service between Delhi and Agartala.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and MoS Railways Rajen Gohain and Indian High Commissioner to Dhaka Harshavardhan Sringla will also attend the programme.

Chief Engineer of Northeast Frontier (NF) Railway (construction) Harpal Singh said acquisition of land for the rail link between Agartala and Akhaura in Bangladesh has already started as funds have been released by DoNER ministry.

The process of laying the 15.054-km-long railway tracks to connect Agartala with Akhaura will be completed by 2017.

Of the total track, a stretch of five kilometre will be on the Indian side and the rest in Bangladesh.

DoNER has already sanctioned Rs 580 crore for the project as New Delhi is keen to establish the rail link which will connect West Bengal and Tripura through Bangladesh.

The Agartala-Akhaura railway route will connect Indian Railways with Bangladesh Railways to improve the connectivity and boost trade between the two countries.

The neighbouring countries had agreed to lay the tracks between Akhaura and Agartala during Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to New Delhi in January 2010.