History of Maitree Express.... [13109 / 13110 ].
The Maitree Express or Dhaka-Kolkata Express is a passenger train serving the railway connecting the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka and India's West Bengal province's capital Kolkata and it is the only railway link between the cities of the two nations and has been revived after being closed for 43 years.The name Maitree Express means the Friendship Express, denoting the significance of the train service to the foreign relations between India and Bangladesh. The inauguration of the train service was held on the occasion of the Bengali New Year April 14, 2008.
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2001, the two national governments agreed upon the railway train scheme during bilateral talks. The train service concept got a major boost during the visit of the Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee to Dhaka in February, 2007. On July 8, 2007 the first train ran from Kolkata to Dhaka in a test run, carrying Indian government officials who were to meet their Bangladeshi counterparts to finalise train schedules. In response to Indian security demands, a "box-fencing" system will be erected on either side on the no-man's land between the two countries.
On April 14, 2008, on the occasion of the Bengali New Year, the train was re-launched with fanfare; the flag-off ceremony for the first train leaving Kolkata from the Kolkata railway station in Chitpur was attended by dignitaries such as the Indian Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, the Governor of West Bengal Gopalkrishna Gandhi and Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Liquat Ali Chowdhury. The Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee officially flagged-off the inaugural train from Kolkata, bound for Dhaka. Another train departed at the same time carrying passengers from Dhaka to Kolkata. But the 360-seater Calcutta-Dhaka Friendship Express on its inaugural run was carrying barely 65 passengers, including journalists and politicians. Indian railway officials state that the train service was launched hurriedly, and that when information would spread there would be a greater response and passenger numbers. An official statement from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said, "The agreement will strengthen bilateral relations and provide an alternative mode of passenger transport."
The Maitree Express is the only train which runs between Kolkata (in India) and Dhaka (in Bangladesh).It runs twice in a week from each side.The train travels around 375 kilometers to reach Dhaka from Kolkata.There are two stoppages for immigration checking, one is Gede (Indian side) and another is Darshana (Bangladesh side).It takes around 10 hours and 50 minutes to reach Dhaka from Kolkata and 11 hours and 45 minutes in reverse order.
The development of the Kolkata-Dhaka train service is akin to that of the Samjhauta Express (also meaning "Friendship" or "Accord" Express), which connects the Indian capital Delhi to Lahore in Pakistan. Both train services were opened to revive rail links between the countries that were disrupted by the partition of India in 1947, and both have been used as symbols of goodwill and cooperation between India and Bangladesh, and India and Pakistan.