Staff Reporter :
The Chilahati-Haldibari rail route between Bangladesh and India which remained closed for 55 years since the India-Pakistan war in 1965 was reopened on Thursday.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated the rail route during a virtual summit.
The railway line from Chilahati to Haldibari (West Bengal) had been defunct since 1965, after rail-links between India and then East Pakistan had broken.
The distance between Haldibari railway station till the international border is 4.5 kilometres while that from Chilahati in Bangladesh till the zero point is around 7.5 kilometres.
The resurrection of the route will help boost trade as well as trans-border railway connectivity. Beside, the 75-kilometre long track will also help better integrate the rest of the country with the Siliguri corridor.
The Chilahati-Haldibari rail route between Bangladesh and India which remained closed for 55 years since the India-Pakistan war in 1965 was reopened on Thursday.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated the rail route during a virtual summit.
The railway line from Chilahati to Haldibari (West Bengal) had been defunct since 1965, after rail-links between India and then East Pakistan had broken.
The distance between Haldibari railway station till the international border is 4.5 kilometres while that from Chilahati in Bangladesh till the zero point is around 7.5 kilometres.
The resurrection of the route will help boost trade as well as trans-border railway connectivity. Beside, the 75-kilometre long track will also help better integrate the rest of the country with the Siliguri corridor.
