B’desh interim govt reluctant to resume rail service: Railway officials

Kolkata: The Ministry of Railways officials on Saturday that the Bangladesh interim government seems to be reluctant to resume the rail services between the two countries after it was disturbed by the August protests in the neighbouring country.

“While air connectivity was largely unaffected and bus services between the two nations resumed after a brief hiatus, the interim government in Bangladesh is somehow reluctant towards resumption of the rail link,” the railway officials said.

The officials added that they suspect that the interim government wants to put on hold any display of bonhomie and friendship between the two countries as part of the agitation was against ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s pro-India stance.

“The cancellation of these trains has certainly affected people. Railways remain a very comfortable and affordable mode of transport from Kolkata to Dhaka and Khulna and had gained in popularity over the years,” a senior official in the Ministry of Railways said.

He said that another reason could be the removal of several officials in Bangladesh, perceived to be close to the Awami League government, after Sheikh Hasina left the country on August 5.

“There is a possibility of a major shake-up in the Bangladesh Railways as well and replacements to key posts may have not yet been found,” the official said.

However, another official expressed his doubts, saying, “If that was the case, how are goods trains continuing to run from India to Bangladesh with items like oil cakes, ballast and fly ash.”

There was a military-backed caretaker government in power in Bangladesh when the Maitree Express started running in 2008. The start of this service was considered nostalgic by many Bengalis from either side of the international border, which was actually a revival of rail services that used to exist till 1965.

Initially, several Indian citizens applied for tourist visas just to travel by the Maitree Express to Dhaka and catch up on the sights and sounds of the Bangladeshi countryside and try and go back to the times of their parents or grandparents who may have made similar trips before 1947.

At one time, those travelling to Darjeeling from Kolkata also had to cut through what is now Bangladesh to reach Siliguri.

The Bandhan Express, between Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh started running in 2017. This second train, a reincarnation of the famous Barishal Express, was jointly flagged off by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina.

–IANS