Dhaka – Bangladesh and India on Friday formally inaugurated fully air conditioned Dhaka-Kolkata Maitree Express in an effort to further ease communication between the two countries with smooth journey.
Railways Minister Mujibul Haque and Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Harsh Vardhan Shringla jointly inaugurated the service to provide increased comfort to the passengers traveling by Maitree Express.
The Indian High Commissioner said Bangladesh-India relations have scaled new heights presently under the leadership of Bangladesh Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“We hope that this good relationship will continue for times immemorial,” he said.
The newly inaugurated train consists of four coaches of air conditioned first class and four coaches of AC chair car.
A total of 456 passengers will now be able to travel in the comfort of air conditioned coaches.
The coaches have been manufactured in India, using the latest technology and have been procured by the Government of Bangladesh under the first Line of Credit, said the Indian High Commission in Dhaka.
Maitree Express, which was started on this very day of Pahela Baishakh of 2008, has progressed from being a once a week service to four days a week now.
In the year of 2015-16 (April to March) 98,322 passengers availed of the Maitree Express service while in the year 2016-17(April to March) 1,15,061 number of passengers availed of the service, thus representing a growth of 17 per cent.
Maitree Express is especially popular among the senior citizens and patients, who travel between India and Bangladesh.
On April 8, Prime Ministers of Bangladesh and India flagged off the trial run of Khulna-Kolkata Express and also formally inaugurated the fourth railway link between India and Bangladesh.
The journey time will come down from the current 9 hours to about 6 hours. -UNB
