AGARTALA / NEW DELHI, Sep 14 (TIWN): Indian Railways, led by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu is working to link Northeastern India with Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

According to Railways, to provide rail connectivity to the neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, the Construction Organization of Railways has undertaken many survey works for new railway lines to these countries. 

"Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has already connected Bangladesh at Singhabad. Works to connect Radhikapur and Haldibari are in progress. The proposed Agartala-Akhaura International rail link project will boost socio-economic development of not only Tripura state but entire Northeast Region and the nation as a whole", the NFR in a statement added. 

The link will be a part of the Trans Asian Railway network and will provide a much shorter connectivity from Tripura to Kolkata. 

On completion, this India -Bangladesh rail line project will be Gateway to entire North Eastern region. It will connect Northeast India with Ashuganj and Chittagong Port of Bangladesh. It will also connect Agartala to Kolkata via Dhaka shortly. The existing distance between Agartala and Kolkata on Indian Railway network is 1613 Km which will get reduced by around 900 KM.