The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Since the introduction of the "Moitree Express" over the three month ago, customs and immigration hassles and long travel time have discouraged people intending to visit either Bangladesh or India by the Dhaka-Kolkata train services.

To attract the passengers, the both Bangladesh and Indian railway officials will meet at a divisional level meeting in Dhaka on July 27 to July 29.

"We would discuss about reduction of travel time of Moitree Express to 10 hours from 13 hours," Bangladesh Railway Director General Baleyat Hossain told the New Nation yesterday.

He said that the Bangladesh Railway also proposed to the Indian counterpart to find out ways and means to ease customs and immigration facilities for the service.

Earlier, the Bangladesh Railway has written to the Indian authority for meeting to devise means to reduce the travel time to 10 hours from 13 hours.

The trains between the two countries carry passengers much below their capacity. Both Dhaka and kolkata bound trains have 336 seats each.

The Moitree Express carried 151 passengers from the Dhaka Cantonment Station on Sunday and only 121 passengers came from the other end on the same day, according to Dhaka Railway Station Sources.

Affordable fares, comfort of travel and safety of journey from the point of accidents and other hazards inspired many people to avail themselves of this train services to visit either of the two countries.

Moitree charges Tk 560 for shovan chair, Tk 840 for AC chair and Tk 1,400 AC cabin as against Tk 1,500 for travel by bus.

Despite cheap fares and other facilities many now feel discourage to travel by Moitree as it takes 13 hours to reach Chitpur Railway Station on the outskirts of Kalkata, capital of the Indian state of West Bengal from the Dhaka Cantonment Railway Station. The distance between the two terminal points is 538 kilometres of which 418 kilometres are within Bangladesh.

Unfriendly behaviour of the customs and immigration officials at Gede check point in West Bengal serves as irritant for undertaking the journey by train, according to sources.

Completion of customs and immigration formalities take nearly five hours both the sides, according to the passengers.

The passengers from Bangladesh side were also discouraged to go to India by train due to visa complexities, sources added.

One could reach Kolkata in nine hours from Dhaka by bus, sources said.