The passenger train between Dhaka and Siliguri is likely to start running later this month, almost a year after the service was formally launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina.

Senior officials of the Northeast Frontier Railway and the Border Security Force on Thursday visited Haldibari, which is in Cooch Behar district and near the Bangladesh border, to check the arrangements for the service which is a longstanding demand of north Bengal residents as well as citizens of Bangladesh, thousands of whom visit the region every year.

Trains used to run between erstwhile East Pakistan and India through Haldibari and Chilahati which is near the Indian border and in the Nilphamari district of Bangladesh, till 1965.

A few years ago, initiatives were taken by both the countries to resume train services along the route. Accordingly, infrastructure was developed on either side of the border, tracks laid till the zero point and trial runs were conducted.

Finally, the Prime Ministers of both the countries inaugurated the railway route for the movement of goods trains in December 2020, after a gap of 55 years. Since then, trains carrying different items have been moving between India and Bangladesh through the route.

On March 27 last year, Modi and Hasina virtually inaugurated the service of Mitali Express, a passenger train that will connect Dhaka with New Jalpaiguri.

“However, as the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic hit the globe, the train didn’t run for a single day. Now that the situation has improved, there is a plan to start the passenger train service on March 26 from Dhaka,” said a source in the NFR.

According to railway sources, Mitali Express will be a bi-weekly train. It will leave New Jalpaiguri on Sundays and Wednesdays and Dhaka on Mondays and Thursdays.

The Mitali Express will have four AC cabin coaches and AC chair cars each.

The plan to start the Dhaka-NJP service has been welcome by the people of north Bengal. They said hundreds of Bangladeshis visited the region for medical purposes, education and as tourists.

“As of now, they take the bus that runs through Changrabandha (in Cooch Behar district) or need to reach Calcutta and then visit north Bengal. The train to NJP will facilitate their travel as they can reach Siliguri from Dhaka in 12 hours or so and need not take a turnaround route,” said Pradip Chakraborty, a retired railway employee.

The train service has also kindled the hopes of tourism stakeholders in the region. They said most of the foreign tourists who visited north Bengal were Bangladeshis and the number was likely to go up in the coming days.

“Since 2018, Sikkim has been opened for Bangladeshis and many have started visiting the Himalayan state. The passenger train service would be an added advantage for them as it would cut down their transport costs. Also, many residents of north Bengal have their roots in Bangladesh and they want to visit the country. They can avail themselves of the train service and reach Dhaka directly,” said Samrat Sanyal, general secretary, Himalayan Hospitality & Tourism Development Network.