Proposed to chug off on Poila Baisakh, the train to Bangladesh is stalled, at least for the next three months. Authorities at the Eastern Railways today refused to specify the date on which the service would begin. But they added that it has been decided that the services would begin within two or three months with “whatever infrastructure” is available, after taking certain short-term measures. The poor infrastructure at Gede station, on this side of the border, is cited as the reason for delay — officials said the station is not yet ready to handle heavy passenger traffic that the cross-border train service is expected to bring in. As per proposals, the daily train was scheduled to run between Sealdah and Joydebpur, some 35 kilometres from Dhaka. All customs, immigration and security checks for the Bangladesh-bound train were to be undertaken at Gede station, in North 24 Parganas. The proposed train would then proceed to Joydebpur via Darsana (first station across the border), Darsana, Ishurdi, Ibrahimabad and Tangail.No halt was conceived for the proposed train due to security reasons. At present, only goods train run between Gede, on this side of the border, and Darsana in Bangladesh. Eastern Railways general manager N K Goel said, “We visited Gede station yesterday to finalise a plan of action.” According to him, Gede station would need an upgrade to set up customs and immigration offices and security checks for passengers. The station is at present equipped with minimum infrastructure to support only freight trains. Goel said the railway authorities have to develop Gede gradually into a station “where all facilities are available”. Refusing to specify the exact date on which operations would take off, Goel said, “It is a decision to be taken at the higher level. We need clearance from different agencies before we can start the service.”The proposed train, with 10 coaches, would cover a distance of 330 kilometres, with 117 km on the Indian side.
