Passenger train service between India and Bangladesh in August

New Delhi, May 23 (UNI) India and Bangladesh will be linked by a regular passenger train service -- the first such service between the two countries -- in August, in a move aimed at substantially improving people-to-people contacts of the two South Asian neighbours.

A top Railway Ministry official today said the train would run between Kolkata and Dhaka -- a section on which freight trains already operate.

''All preparatory arrangemenets with regard to infrastructure and logistics have been made and only some teething problems have to be ironed out,'' the official said, exuding confidence that the passenger train service would become operational in August.

The originating stations will be Chitpur near Sealdah in Kolkata on the Indian side while in Bangladesh, it would be Joydebpur, 32 km from Dhaka.

The official said the work on linking Chatgaon port in Bangladesh with Agartala (Tripura), a distance of 13 km, was also going ahead.

''We have already two passenger train links with Pakistan in the form of Thar Express and Samjhauta Express. Now India and Bangladesh are all set to be linked by a passenger train,'' he said.

The train was originally slated to commence its maiden run in April but because of non-completion of work on certain stretches, it had been delayed.

Earlier in the day, a 35-member delegation from Bangladesh, comprising its civil servants and foreign service officers, met Railway Minister Lalu Prasad to learn first hand the turnaround of Indian Railways.

''The delegation, led by Syed Mehboob Hasan, showed their admiration for the Railway Minister by telling him in his face that he is the darling of not only Indian railways but also of Bangladesh Railways,'' the official said.

The delegation members are currently in Delhi undergoing training at the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA).

The Bangladeshi civil servants also hoped that their next visit to India would be in a train ride.

UNI