Broad-gauge intercity train from today

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Silk City Express, a broad-gauge intercity train, starts plying on Rajshahi-Dhaka route today.

The train will depart from Rajshahi at 7:30am with an aim to reach Kamalapur within 1:30pm while the same train will leave Kamalapur at 2:40pm with an aim to reach Rajshahi at 8:50pm.

"It is an historical event that a broad-gauge train is going to enter Kamalapur station directly," said AKM Mushfiqur Rahman, general manager of Bangladesh Railway (west zone).

Rahman said four more broad-gauge trains that are currently plying up to Dhaka Cantonment Station will start plying up to Kamalapur within three months once proper signaling system is installed.

The four other trains are the Sundarban Express and the Chitra Express from Khulna, the Nilsagar from Sayedpur and the Padma from Rajshahi.

Apart from the Silk City and the Padma, the railway authorities are planning to start a new train soon, said senior officials.

The railway network in most part of the west covering Rajshahi, Khulna and Dinajpur regions was broad-gauge while Dhaka had meter-gauge rail network, making the broad-gauge railway communication impossible from Kamalapur to these regions.

The trains would address the problem and end suffering of passengers.

For running both types of trains from Dhaka to Rajshahi and Khulna regions, the railway authorities have already converted the line into dual-gauge.

Three meter-gauge trains the Ekota Express and the Drutojan Express from Sayedpur and the Lalmoni Express from Lalmonirhat have been plying up to Kamalapur for the last several years.

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