Kolkata, April 8, 2017
Shri Narendra Damodar Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India and Smt. Sheikh Hasina, Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh jointly flagged off the trial run of Khulna-Kolkata train from Benapole through video link from New Delhi today (8.4.2017)
The train was receive in Indian Border Petrapole by Eastern Railway’s Divisional Railway Manager, Sealdah.
Shri. S. N. Agarwal, General Manager, Eastern & South Eastern Railways, Shri Satish Kumar, Additional General Manager, Eastern Railway, Shri Basudeva Panda, Divisional railway Manager, Sealdah and other dignitaries received the train and high-officials of Bangladesh at Kolkata Station.
Speaking on the occasion Shri Agarwal said that though there was an international border between the two countries (ie. Banglaesh and India), the cultural and social bonding between the Bengalees as a whole lying on the either side of the border is still warm as it used to be 70 years back. In view of this, the government of both the countries has decided to run Maitree Express between Kolkata and Dhaka Cantt, since April 2008.
It is stated that both the Maitree Express and Kolkata-Khulna Passenger train would not only fulfilled long cherished aspirations of the people of these two countries, but would also go a long way in improving the bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh. Moreover, about 30 years after the independence of Bangladesh (1971), Indo- Bangladesh rail corridor at Petrapole-Benapole was reopened in January 2001 for running of goods train on regular basis. This also fulfilled the popular demand of people of both India and Bangladesh.
Photo By : Suman Munshi
