Our Correspondent :
Railway port of Bangladesh-India trade gate opened after 55 years. Chilahati-Haldibari railway line was closed on 6 September 1965 during the Pak-India war. That path was started again through the hand of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina. After that long wait, the import-export activities between the Western Railway of Bangladesh and the North-East Frontier Railway of India were started today, Sunday 1st August, by rail from Chilahati in Nilphamari and Haldibari land port in Cochbihar. A 40-wagon freight train carrying stones from the Damdim railway station in the Alipore Duar Division of North Bengal to the Haldibari border reached Chilahati in northern Bangladesh at 5:22 pm. It is known that on the first day, Bangladesh Railway and Customs earned about 26 lakh 1 thousand 275 rupees as revenue.
Hundreds of women, men and children flocked to the border areas of Chilahati and Haldibari in India to see such a real picture of importing goods from India after 55 years on this railway.
Chilahati Railway Station Master Ashraful Haque said, “The freight train from India with 2,285.20 metric tons of stone has reached our Chilahati railway station through Indian locomotives.” Each wagon has an average of 59 metric tons of stone.
Nilphamari Chamber President Maruf Zaman said the problem was solved after 55 years. Now traders of the two countries will be able to import and export goods by rail at low cost.
It is learned that the government of India-Bangladesh has re-established the Chilahati-Haldibari border railway for commercial convenience in terms of both time and fare for transportation of goods. This was inaugurated by the Prime Ministers of the two countries Sheikh Hasina and Narendra Modi through video conference on December 16 last year (2020). After 6 long months of inauguration, both the countries completed the paperwork for the transportation of goods in this way.
