Maligaon, Nov 01: The Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi and Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina virtually inaugurated the Akhaura- Agartala international connectivity rail line project between India and Bangladesh today.
The 12.24 km long railway line (5.46 km in India and 6.78 km in Bangladesh) linked Bangladesh’s Akhaura through an international immigration station at Nischintapur, which will be a dual gauge station for both passenger and goods interchange between India and Bangladesh.
Speaking on the occasion, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India said thatboth the countries have once again come together to celebrate the success of India-Bangladesh cooperation. Bangladesh has been connected to the Northeast for the first time by rail link. This rail link will give a great boost to the tourism sector and will bolster economic development of the Northeast, the PM added.
Indian Railways is significantly working towards PM’s vision of ‘Act East Policy’ and ‘Neighborhood First Policy’ by executing several new railway line projects connecting the neighboring countries. Construction of the Akhaura- Agartala international connectivity rail line project between India and Bangladesh is one such of the crucial projects.
The new rail project will provide a great boost to people to people contact between the two countries apart from increasing the trade and commerce. Once fully operational, this new rail line will help grow small scale industries in the border areas and boost tourism of the two countries particularly in Tripura.
It will also help in export and import of commodities faster and help the local producers to export their produces outside the country faster. Goods carrying trains from various parts of India can reach NE region via Bangladesh with much lesser transportation cost. Also, the travel time between Agartala and Kolkata via Dhaka will get reduced significantly.
Moreover, Nischintapur railway station in Tripura which has been developed as a part of the ambitious Akhaura- Agartala international rail link project has been identified as Land Customs Station (LCS). A passenger and cargo terminal have been constructed to facilitate international travellers and freight cargos.
The station yard, equipped with modern amenities will serve the purpose of Indo – Bangladesh trade along with transshipment facility of goods and passengers. Further, the station yard will be used for security purpose and document checking of passengers to and from Bangladesh.
