AGARTALA, Jan 30 (TIWN): Speaking to the media during Akahura border Check post visit on Friday, Bangladesh High Commissioner in Delhi Syed Muazzem Ali stated that the construction work of the Indo-Bangla rail link is underway. On a visit at Agartala, Bangladesh High Commissioner of Delhi Syed Muazzem Ali expressed about the plans of the Bangladesh Government to covert the metre gauge track into common rail link. Besides, he also stated that in the next two years it is expected that the plan to have common rail track at nine point will be completed. It is to be mentioned here that 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. However, it is expected that with the commencement of the Indo-Bangla will make travelling more easily and stress free as the distance between the Tripura capital and Kolkata through Bangladesh is just about 350 km.

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.

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

It is to be mentioned here that with the decision for the new link to ease surface for transport India Government has decided to build a 15-km railway tracks linking Tripura’s capital Agartala with Bangladesh’s south-eastern city of Akhaura.

However, it is 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.

However, with the establishment of the Agartala-Akhaura rail link both the countries would be facilitated with easier connectivity between West Bengal and north-eastern states through Bangladesh.

Besides, it is to be mentioned here that for ferrying goods and heavy machinery to the northeast from abroad and other parts of the country this rail link will be highly fruitful.