The Hindu : Front Page : Kolkata-Dhaka train makes trial run

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Monday, Jul 09, 2007
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Kolkata-Dhaka train makes trial run

Marcus Dam

This is the first time a passenger train enters Bangladesh through Gede

Kolkata: A trial run of the much-awaited railway service from Kolkata to Dhaka was held on Sunday with the departure of a diesel locomotive-driven train from the Sealdah Station at 7 a.m.

The train, which carried officials from the Home Ministry, the Customs and the Railways, reached Gede in West Bengal’s Nadia district near the border with Bangladesh two hours later. The train had six coaches and an inspection car.

After a halt for an hour-and-forty minutes at Gede, the train left via Darshana for Dhaka, a senior official of the Eastern Railway told The Hindu.

This is the first time a passenger train entered Bangladesh through Gede, as passenger services between the two countries were discontinued several years ago.

Till now only goods trains plied the broad-gauge route into that country, though there are two other such inter-country routes from West Bengal across the border for transporting cargo traffic, the official said.

Regular Service

The beginning of a regular service between Kolkata and Dhaka was expected in mid-August, he added.

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