Bridges, Borders, and the Forgotten Rails: The India–Bangladesh Frontier Revisited
Prelude: The Divided Tracks of the East
The story of Bengal’s railways is, in many ways, a tale of belonging and bereavement. Few other regions in the subcontinent witnessed such an abrupt severing of iron and emotion. Once, the rhythmic pulse of trains traversed unbroken through these lands, from the bustling terminus of Calcutta to the distant halts of Chittagong and Assam. Then came 1947 — the year of Partition — and the rhythm faltered. What was once a seamless network became a cartographer’s casualty.
In the decades that followed, border stations turned into ghostly outposts. Platforms that had once greeted travellers and traders were left to the mercy of vines, silence, and nostalgia. Yet, the steel never forgot its purpose. Even when dormant, it remembered — waiting patiently for a time when connections might once again outpace divisions.
Rails Between Realms: The Haldibari–Chilahati Legacy
Amongst the many dismembered lines of the eastern frontier, the Haldibari (India)–Chilahati (Bangladesh) corridor remains emblematic of both interruption and endurance. Once part of the grand Siliguri–Calcutta main line, these stations lay on the venerable broad gauge track that stitched together the northern plains with the port city of Calcutta.
At Partition, Haldibari fell within India’s Cooch Behar district, while Chilahati drifted into East Pakistan. Still, the trains ran — a fragile continuity — until the Indo-Pak War of 1965, when all cross-border railway movement in the eastern corridor came to an abrupt halt.
The distance between Haldibari and the international border is a mere 4.5 kilometres, while Chilahati lies 7.5 kilometres from the zero point on the Bangladeshi side. By the early 2020s, work on the Indian side had been nearly completed — more than 95 per cent of track-laying done — with progress on the Bangladeshi side dictating the pace of completion. The restoration of this link promises more than just connectivity; it represents the revival of a memory long buried under political dust.
Metre-Gauge Memories: Bengal’s Narrower Arteries
In earlier decades, the Bengal frontier was laced with metre-gauge lines that carried not only freight but also the pulse of small-town life. The Radhikapur–Biral–Parbatipur and Changrabandha–Burimari branches once linked West Bengal to northern Bangladesh — fragments of the Lalmonirhat–Malbazar line, developed in the twilight years of the nineteenth century by the Bengal Dooars Railway.
When Partition came, the Indian side terminated at Changrabandha and the Pakistani side at Burimari. Today, the Radhikapur–Biral–Parbatipur section has been upgraded to broad gauge, while Changrabandha–Burimari remains a name whispered among the abandoned corridors of railway lore.
Lalmonirhat and the Lost Corridors of Connection
By the turn of the nineteenth century, Lalmonirhat had emerged as a railway citadel in north Bengal — a vital junction from which iron veins stretched to Assam and beyond. Two metre-gauge corridors once linked this region with Cooch Behar:
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Lalmanirhat–Mogalhat–Dharla River Bridge–Gitaldaha, and
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Bamanhat–Golokganj, both facilitating seamless travel from Bengal to Assam.
The Gitaldaha–Mogalhat crossing, divided by the Dharla River, is today but a spectral reminder. Mogalhat lies on the Bangladeshi side in Lalmonirhat District, while Gitaldaha — now defunct — sits quietly in India’s Cooch Behar. A new Gitaldaha station was later built further north, feeding into the Bamanhat line.
Before independence, a single 1,000 mm wide metre-gauge artery connected Fakiragram (Assam) to Katihar (Bihar) via Radhikapur, Biral, Parbatipur, Kaunia, Tista, Gitaldaha, Bamanhat, and Golokganj. This line, operated by the Eastern Bengal Railway, was the principal route to Assam’s Amingaon Port from Semaria Ghat in Bihar — a lifeline of trade and travel that spanned the heart of the subcontinent.
Assam’s Gateway Through Bengal
Until the 1960s, a modest but important line linked Cooch Behar to Dhubri (Assam) via Golokganj, known as the Assam Line Railway Service. Remarkably, even after Partition, this route continued through East Pakistan between Bamanhat and Golokganj, embodying a rare continuity amid division.
The Sonahat crossing, another forgotten rail transit point, once connected Golokganj to Kurigram by metre gauge. Over time, floods, neglect, and shifting political sands erased this link from the living map.
Notably, the Assam Mail — immortalised in the 1943 Bradshaw’s India Time Table — plied this network, running from Katihar to Tinsukia Junction, with a slip pair joining from Calcutta at Parbatipur. In those days, the railway was the subcontinent’s bloodstream: from Awadh to Assam, from Chittagong to Tinsukia, the iron roads of Eastern Bengal carried a civilisation in motion.
Mahisasan–Shahbajpur: The Silent Frontier of the North-East
Further east, the Mahisasan–Shahbajpur (Latu) link between Assam’s Karimganj district and Bangladesh’s Sylhet region once served as a critical metre-gauge corridor. The line connected Mahisasan to Karimganj, eleven kilometres apart, and was operational until the 1965 war severed ties.
In the 1950s, international trains ran between Kulaura (East Pakistan) and Badarpur (India) on this very gauge, with rolling stock belonging to the Eastern Bengal Railway. Today, the line lies in disuse, its sleepers overtaken by weeds — a once-bustling gateway now a border relic.
New Corridors of Hope: The Tripura Connection
If the older links are memories, Tripura is the promise of renewal. Two new cross-border connections are poised to transform the North-East’s railway geography:
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Agartala (India) – Gangasagar (Bangladesh), and
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Belonia (India) – Feni (Bangladesh).
The Agartala–Gangasagar line, spanning 15.6 kilometres, includes 10.6 km on the Indian side (up to Nischintapur) and 5.46 km connecting Nischintapur to Agartala station. Nischintapur will host the region’s first trans-shipment yard, where passengers and goods from Bangladesh will interchange — a symbolic and logistical bridge between the two nations.
Once dual-gauging is completed across Bangladesh’s eastern corridor, a direct service between Agartala and Kolkata is envisaged — running via Tangail, the Jamuna Rail Bridge, and the Hardinge Bridge — effectively reuniting the North-East with the eastern seaboard.
By early 2021, work on the Indian side was well underway, the hum of welding torches and concrete mixers replacing the long silence of inactivity.
Over the Jamuna: From Ferry to Bridge
Before the advent of the Bangabandhu Bridge (1996–97), the people of Bangladesh’s central regions depended on rail ferries to traverse the mighty Jamuna (Brahmaputra) River. These ferries were the arteries of connection between the western and eastern halves of the country.
Two major ferry crossings once operated — between Sirajganj Ghat and Jogannathganj Ghat, and between Bahadurabad Ghat and Tistamukh Ghat. The western banks were served by broad gauge lines from Ishurdi, linking eventually to Calcutta, while the eastern banks relied on the metre-gauge system.
The completion of the 4.8-kilometre Bangabandhu Bridge fundamentally altered the nation’s communications landscape. By 2010, the ferry systems at Bahadurabad–Balashi and Jogannathganj–Sirajganj had been phased out, the former succumbing to riverine shoals and siltation. The river’s old channel — tracing its way from the Jamuna’s divergence to the Shitalakshya’s mouth — remains a reminder of the days when ferries were as integral to the railway as the trains themselves.
The Shifting Lines of the East
In the years following the bridge’s completion, a new metre-gauge line was laid from Bangabandhu East station to Taraknandi in 2008, replacing the now-abandoned Taraknandi–Jogannathganj Ghat line on the Jamuna’s banks. This transition symbolised the region’s evolution from a river-dependent system to an integrated rail corridor, uniting the once-distant halves of Bangladesh through engineering vision.
Between Akhaura and Kulaura, the now-defunct Shaistaganj–Habiganj and Kulaura–Latu branches once hummed with life. Today, they rest in quiet disuse, reminders of an era when railways traced every contour of the land, binding together the diverse destinies of Bengal, Assam, and Sylhet.
Epilogue: The Iron Memory
From Haldibari’s sidings to Agartala’s new yard, the story of these lines is not merely one of transport — it is the saga of resilience and remembrance. Borders may have altered geographies, but the railway — that steadfast servant of civilisation — continues to seek reunion.
Every whistle that pierces the silence of the border carries within it the echo of the past — of friendships rekindled, economies revived, and histories reconnected. Steel may age, bridges may corrode, but the railway’s dream remains immutable: to link hearts as much as it links lands.
Coda: The Pulse Beneath the Rust
Across the frontierlands of Bengal and Assam, where rivers shift and rails remember, the old alignments whisper of a past that refuses to fade. Each bridge rebuilt and each sleeper relaid is not merely an act of engineering but a gesture of reconciliation — an attempt to restore continuity where history once drew a line.
Steel may corrode, maps may change, yet the rhythm of the railway endures — steadfast, sonorous, and forgiving. Beneath the rust lies a pulse that still beats for unity.
Glossary
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Broad Gauge (BG): Railway track spacing of 1,676 mm, the predominant standard in India.
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Metre Gauge (MG): Narrower track gauge of 1,000 mm, once common across Bengal and Assam before conversion to broad gauge.
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Eastern Bengal Railway: A pre-Independence railway company operating routes across undivided Bengal and Assam, many of which now traverse modern Bangladesh.
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Partition (1947): The division of British India into India and Pakistan, which severed many through railway routes in the East.
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Transit Point: A designated cross-border junction permitting customs and railway interchange between two national systems.
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Hardinge Bridge: A major railway bridge over the Padma River in Bangladesh, built during British rule (1915).
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Bangabandhu Bridge: The 4.8-km bridge over the Jamuna River (1996–97) linking western and eastern Bangladesh.
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Bradshaw: The authoritative British-era railway timetable and guidebook of Indian train services.
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Fakiragram / Amingaon Port: Historic railway termini in Assam linked by the Eastern Bengal Railway network prior to 1947.
Copyright Notice
© 2020–2026 Dhinakar Rajaram. All rights reserved.
This article, including its text, phrasing, and historical analysis, is the author’s original work. Reproduction, distribution, or adaptation in any form without explicit written consent from the author is strictly prohibited. Quotations or references may be made with proper attribution and citation of the source.
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Bridges, Borders & Forgotten Rails — tracing the lost lines between India and Bangladesh. 🚂
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