Dhaka, Delhi to transport fuel oil by train

Bangladesh and India have agreed to start transportation by rail of petroleum products from Numaligarh oil refinery in northeastern Indian state of Assam to Parbatipur in Bangladesh through existing interchange points at Rohanpur and Singhabad.

At a three-day meeting of railway officials, the two countries agreed to expeditiously evaluate the feasibility of initially operating weekly passenger train service between Kolkata and Khulna after issues relating to customs and immigration checks at Benapole/Petrapol or at Kolkata/Dhaka get settled.

Bangladesh has agreed to examine the possibility of increasing the frequency of Moitree Express linking Dhaka and Kolkata to four times from the current three times a week, said an official statement issued in New Delhi yesterday.

It was agreed that Bangladesh Railway would conduct a due diligence exercise and revert to Indian Railways in due course, said the statement.

Indian Railways also expressed its readiness to convert Moitree Express into a fully air-conditioned service.

It was also agreed in the meeting that both sides would further pursue the initiative to shift Customs and Immigration checks to Kolkata and Dhaka.

India sought access to Bangladesh Railway network for the purposes of carrying through traffic to and from its eastern states and Bangladesh Railway agreed to have the proposal placed for due consideration at the appropriate levels of its government, the statement said.

The India-Bangladesh Inter Governmental Railway Meeting was held in New Delhi from May 25 to 27 in which officials of Indian and Bangladesh Railway, Customs, immigration and foreign ministries participated.