Bangladesh Railway Minister Md. Nurual Islam Sujan and High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Vikram Doraiswami on Thursday visited the under-construction new railway line between Akhaura and Agartala to review its progress. Speaking to the reporters at the zero point on Agartala border, Railway Minister Nurul Sujan said that it is a very important rail-route between the two countries for both business and travel. Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh had inaugurated the project. Five interchange lines between India and Bangladesh are currently operational and this will be the sixth line.
Railway Minister stressed upon the need to quicken the pace of the work on this line after the inspection of the progress of ongoing work. The project contractor assured the Railway minister that the earthwork for the railway line will be completed by June this year and the railway line will be ready for operations by December, said the Bangladesh Railway press release. The total length of the railway line is 15.6 kilometers with approximately 5 kilometers inside the Indian side and the remaining on the Bangladesh side.
The project is being executed with financing from the Indian Line of Credit (LOC) extended to Bangladesh. The Akhaura-Agartala railway project was initiated in 2010 and the MoU was signed in 2013. The Ministry of External Affairs is funding the project in Bangladesh, the Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region (DONER) is entrusted with the work on the Indian side.
