AGARTALA, Jan 14 (TIWN): With progress in the BG railway service in the state, it is expected that the Indo-Bangla rail link will also get a boost in the coming days.Union Minister for railway Manoj Sinha, on a three day visit to the state inspected the work progress of BG conversion at Nishchintpur BOP Indo-Bangla border area to monitor the Indo-Bangla rail link work. It can be expected that the indo-Bangla rail link will also get a boost as it is another major way to get connected with Kolkata via the neighbouring country of Bangladesh. It is expected that as BG service has made its way to the state the Indo-Bangla rail line will also get a boost in the coming days.An agreement to implement the railway project was signed between India’s former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina during her visit to India in January 2010. Once Indo-Bangla rail link will commenced it will make travelling more easily and stress free as the distance between the Tripura capital and Kolkata through Bangladesh is just about 350 km.It is to be mentioned here that Union Minister for railway Manoj Sinha and others in a visit to the Nishchintpur BOP Indo-Bangla border area already inspected the area and has taken a note of the work progress in the proposed rail connectivity between Agartala and Gangasagar (Bangladesh).

The Indian Railway Construction Company Ltd (IRCON) and the NFR have jointly initiated the fixing of alignment for the proposed Agartala-Gangasagar rail link.

Indian and Bangladesh governments have decided to start a new rail link to ease surface transport. India will build a 15-km railway tracks linking Tripura’s capital Agartala with Bangladesh’s southeastern city of Akhaura, an important railway junction connected to Chittagong port, resource-rich Sylhet and Dhaka. 

Total cost of the proposed project is estimated at Rs.252 crore. The Indian Railway Construction Company (IRCON) would lay the new railway tracks on both sides of the border. Of the 15 km rail line, five km of tracks fall in the Indian Territory.

India has been keen to establish the Agartala-Akhaura rail link as it would facilitate easier connectivity between West Bengal and northeastern states through Bangladesh. It has offered to construct the railway link.
For ferrying goods and heavy machinery to the northeast from abroad and other parts of the country, India has for long been seeking land, sea and rail access through Bangladesh.
 

Agartala, for instance, is 1,650 km from Kolkata and 2,637 km from New Delhi via Guwahati and West Bengal, whereas the distance between the Tripura capital and Kolkata through Bangladesh is just about 350 km