PM Modi, Sheikh Hasina jointly inaugurates new passenger train between India and Bangladesh

A new passenger train connecting Dhaka and New Jalpaiguri on the Indian side was inaugurated jointly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina via a video conference on Saturday.

This is the third passenger train after Maitree Express (Dhaka-Kolkata) and Bandhan Express (Khulna-Kolkata) running between the two neighbouring countries.

The new passenger train, 'Mitali Express', was jointly inaugurated by Modi and Hasina at 6:38 pm on Saturday from the Prime Minister's Office in Tejgaon via a video conference, local vernacular news website BanglaNews24.com



reported.

The new inter-country passenger train was launched on the occasion of 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birth centenary and golden jubilee of Bangladesh's Independence, it said.

The train will run between Dhaka Cantonment and New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal via Chilahati, a border railway station in Bangladesh. The distance between Dhaka and Chilahati is 453 km and from Chilahati to New Jalpaiguri is 71 km.

Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan, Director General of Railways Dhirendra Nath Majumder and other senior officials were present at the Dhaka Cantonment Station during the inauguration.