Bandhan Express resumes after two years

BANGLADESH: Passenger train services –Maitree Express and Bandhan Express– between Bangladesh and India resumed on Sunday, two years after it was paused due to the outbreak of coronavirus, according to Bangladesh Railway officials.

The Maitree Express train service between Dhaka and Kolkata resumed from Dhaka Cantonment Railway station on Sunday.

“The train departed from (Dhaka) Cantonment Railway Station with 165 passengers onboard to Kolkata…it will make its return voyage on Monday and reach Dhaka,” a Bangladesh Railway (BR) spokesman said.

He added that the expected journey time was about eight hours. Dhirendra Nath Majumder, the Director General of Bangladesh Railways, said from now on the train would run five days a week though it did not draw the expected number of passengers on the first day apparently because the COVID-19 situation was yet to be wiped out completely.

BR officials said the 465-seat train used to carry around 300 passengers on an average. Meanwhile, another train service, Bandhan Express, which runs between on Bangladesh’s Southwestern Khulna and Kolkata route reached Bangladesh, resuming its service after two years of halt, they said.

– THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS