Railway Minister flags off 3rd India-Bangladesh passenger train ‘Mitali Express’

Kolkata, June 1: Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and his Bangladeshi counterpart Mohammad Nurul Islam Sujon, flagged off ‘Mitali Express’ between New Jalpaiguri, India and Dhaka, Bangladesh. This is the third passenger train between the two nations that was flagged off from Rail Bhawan in New Delhi today.

Vaishnaw called Mitali Express “yet another milestone” in bolstering friendship between the two nations. “The relationship between India and Bangladesh is based upon our shared heritage, our shared present and our shared future. The development that we have in both the countries is today accelerated in a very big way by the warm friendship between the two nations at all levels,” he said.

“Mitali Express will be yet another milestone in increasing this friendship, in strengthening this bond, in improving this relationship,” the Railway Minister added.

He recalled India’s aid to the neighbouring country during the Covid-19 pandemic and said that India had transported about 4,000 tonnes of liquid oxygen and that was another small little contribution to the friendship between the two countries.

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The New Jalpaiguri-Dhaka Cantonment train, bearing number 13132, will run two days a week, i.e., on Sunday and Wednesday and for the return journey, train no 13131, Dhaka Cantonment-New Jalpaiguri, Mitali Express will run every Monday and Thursday.

The train will cover distance of 513 kms between New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal and Dhaka Cantonment in Bangaldesh in 9 hours.

The centre also has allotted Rs 10,000 crore for railway projects in West Bengal, said Vaishnaw. Vaishnaw also claimed that if the state government makes land available, the Centre would expedite the projects.