The India-Bangladesh railway connectivity has received fresh impetus with the opening of the much awaited Agartala-Akhaura rail link. Bangladesh is a major pillar of India’s “Neighbourhood First” policy and New Delhi is making consistent efforts to develop rail connectivity and border infrastructure to enhance trade, transit and people-to-people ties between the two countries.
The government officials and ministers of India and Bangladesh have regularly been engaged in talks to enhance bilateral cooperation on the railway sector. A delegation of the Indian Railways (IR) visited Bangladesh in April 2022, and the railway ministers of the two countries met on June 1, 2022.
In September 2022, India and Bangladesh inked two memoranda of understanding (MoUs) to deepen railway cooperation.
One of the MoU between India’s Ministry of Railways and Bangladesh’s Ministry of Railways is on training of Bangladesh Railway (BR) personnel in India envisages a framework of cooperation and ensures training of BR personnel at the institutes of the IR.
Another MoU is on collaboration in information technology (IT) systems and other IT applications for the BR such as Freight Operations Information Systems (FOIS).
They include IT solutions for all aspects of the BR—computerisation of passenger ticketing, freight operation and control office, train inquiry system, digitisation of asset management, human resource and finance infrastructure through the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS).
New Delhi and Dhaka have been closely cooperating with each other for implementing several bilateral and sub-regional railway connectivity projects.
India has extended $7.35 billion to Bangladesh in concessional loans, under which several infrastructure development and connectivity enhancement projects have already been undertaken, while many more schemes are being announced and identified for further discussion.
Some of the ongoing railway infrastructure development projects in Bangladesh include conversion to dual-gauge of Tongi-Akhaura line, Bogra-Sirajganj route, Dhaka-Tongi-Jaydevpur double-line, Kulaura-Shahbazpur rail route and Saidpur Railway Carriage Workshop.
Both the countries have also initiated several new railway projects such as Kaunia-Lalmonirhat-Moghalghat-New Gaibandha link, up gradation of track and signaling systems and railway stations along the Benapole-Jessore line, Parbatipur-Kaunia rail line, up gradation of the Khulna-Darshana railway line and inland container depot at Ishwardi.
The two sides have agreed to explore funding of these projects through a range of financial instruments under the bilateral development cooperation.
The recent opening of the Agartala-Akhaura rail route has boosted connectivity between the two countries. It is the first rail link between India’s land-locked North East and Bangladesh.
Through this rail link, North East especially Tripura has been connected to Ashuganj river port and Chittagong seaport. Along with the Agartala-Akhaura rail route, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina jointly inaugurated the Khulna-Mongla rail link on November 1, 2023.
The opening of the Khulna-Mongla rail line is another milestone on the connectivity front as it has established railway link between Bangladesh’s second largest seaport Mongla for the first time and Khulna, the southern divisional headquarter of the neighbouring country.
The rail route also connects Mongla port with the Darshana-Gede cross-border link. The 65 km-long Khulna-Mongla rail route will provide greater maritime access to eastern India as well. The $388.92 million railway project is being implemented under the concessional line of credit (LoC) provided by the Government of India (GoI) to Bangladesh.
On September 6, 2022, the premiers of the two countries also inaugurated the 5.13 km-long Rupsha Rail Bridge, which is a key part of the Khulna-Mongla single-track broad-gauge rail project. The railway bridge over the Rupsha river built under India’s LoC for Bangladesh’s transport infrastructure development connects Khulna with Mongla port. While inaugurating the bridge, Prime Minister Modi said India would continue to extend cooperation for the development of Bangladesh’s railway network.
The bridge also connects the port town to central and north Bangladesh enhancing people-to-people contacts. The bridge has been constructed by India’s Larsen & Toubro at a cost of $169.26 million.
The bridge will provide an alternate route for rail and maritime trade. The Ruphsa Rail Bridge is an important component of partnership in the area of multilateral connectivity.
Experts say the bridge will allow other countries in the region to use the port. The operationalisation of the rail bridge is a key effort to facilitate regional economic integration.
Besides, both the leaders also announced the up gradation of the 126 km-long Khulna-Darshana railway line linking the existing cross-border rail link at Gede-Darshana to Khulna enhancing the rail connectivity between the two countries, particularly to Bangladesh’s capital city Dhaka, and also to Mongla Port in the future.
Earlier on August 25, 2022, India and Bangladesh signed two contracts for the construction of a new broad-gauge line between Khulna and Darshana and conversion of metre-gauge line into dual-gauge line between Parbatipur and Kaunia.
The two railway infrastructure development projects are being executed with financing under the Indian LoC. The contracts are for conducting feasibility studies with detailed engineering design of the projects.
The $312 million Khulna-Darshana Rail Project will galvanise Bangladesh’s economy by improving rail connectivity on the Khulna-Dhaka, Khulna-Chilahati, and Khulna-Rajshahi routes.
It will also facilitate large-scale movement of commodities such as fuel to the proposed fuel-based power plants in Harian, Santahar, Bheramara, Rangpur, Faridpur, Thakurgaon, Amnura and Bangabandhu Bridge West station.
The 57 km Parbatipur-Kaunia rail route will help improve capacity in the Lalmonirhat-Kaunia-Rangpur-Parbatipur-Kanchan-Panchagarh section, Kanchan-Birol border link, and Santahar-Bogra-Sirajganj corridor of the BR.
The initiative will establish link with the existing cross-border rail link at Birol (Bangladesh)-Radhikapur (West Bengal) and expand rail connectivity between the two countries. The $120.41 million Parbatipur-Kaunia dual-gauge conversion project is being implemented for fuel transportation from India.
Parbatipur-Kaunia Railway Project will help ease cross-border traffic through the Birol border point in Dinajpur. It will also facilitate fuel transportation directly to Rangpur division from Khulna region and accentuate the pace of sub-regional mobility, trade and commerce.
The construction of the dual-gauge line will also boost Bangladesh’s connectivity with Nepal and Bhutan facilitating greater passenger and cargo services. The Bangladesh government has stepped up efforts to expand the railway networks of the country by converting its metre-gauge limes into broad-gauge gradually, and India is playing an instrumental role in the process.
The ongoing Akhaura-Tongi rail line dual-conversion project is another demonstration of growing cooperation on the transport infrastructure development front. India is also supporting Bangladesh to improve its railway connectivity by initiating several other new projects including setting up a rail link between Hilli and Birampur, link restoration between Burimari and Changrabandha and Belonia and Feni.
The development of these rail links are aimed at further expansion of cross-border connectivity.
In another development on September 26, 2022, an agreement was signed between the BR and Indian consultants for up grading the project feasibility study, detailed engineering design, route alignment and other aspects involving the Bogra-Sirajganj railway line.
Recent reports suggest that the first phase of the dual-gauge new northern rail route covering location survey, detailed project report (DPR) and land acquisition is almost complete, and the construction work is likely to commence soon.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Hasina first announced the construction of the 72 km-long Bogra-Sirajganj rail route while addressing a public rally in 2011.
Again in 2015, the prime minister assured the people of Bogra of the construction of the railway line. Subsequently in 2017, the Bangladesh government took the initiative of implementing the rail project utilising India’s LoC.
The project has gained momentum after its approval by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council of Bangladesh in July 2018.
