Bangladesh Railway

Thanks Amar for original post in Facebook. Shared with permission.

The map of Bangladesh Railway network from the extract of Indian Railways map in the year 1991 (West Bengal and Assam states to Bangladesh cross border lines):

Interesting to note here that most of the border stations on the Indian side of Bengal to Bangladesh aren't functioning back in 1991. For example like #Gede (India)- Darshana (Bangladesh), #Petrapole (India)- Benapole (Bangladesh), #Singhabad (India)- Rohanpur (Bangladesh), #Haldibari (India)- Chilahati (Bangladesh), #Changrabandha ( Cooch Behar district, West Bengal- Burimari (in Lalmonirhat District of Rangpur Division is on the Bangladesh side of the border), Lalmanirhat- (Bangladesh)- #Gitaldaha (Cooch Behar district of West Bengal), #Bamanhat (Cooch Behar, West Bengal- #Golokganj (Dhubri district of Assam via Bhurungamari, Pateshwari, Sonahat through Bangladesh railway stations, Lalgola Ghat (India) to Godagari Ghat (Bangladesh via Padma river) and #Radhikapur- Birale. Presently Gede, India to Darshana, Bangladesh, Petrapole (India)- Benapole (Bangladesh) routes are fully operational while the Air-Conditioned Kolkata- Dhaka Maitri express via Gede and Kolkata- Khulna Air-Conditioned Bandhan express via Petrapole run through these lines. The Singhabad (India)- Rohanpur (Bangladesh) through to Rajshahi, 

Radhikapur (India)- Birale (Bangladesh) towards Parbatipur cross border lines are operational for goods train traffic and Haldibari (India)- Chilahati Bangladesh) line was abandoned at the time of the partition of Indian- subcontinent.

The distance between Haldibari railway station in West Bengal's Coochbehar district till the international border is 4.5 kilometres while that from Chilahati in northern Bangladesh till the zero point is around 7.5 kilometres. However, more than 95 per cent work of laying tracks on the Indian side of the Haldibari- Chilahati India-Bangladesh railway link project has been completed. The completion of the entire project depends on the pace with which tracks are laid on the Bangladesh side. Both Haldibari (India) and Chilahati (Bangladesh) stations were laid on the old broad gauge system between Siliguri and Calcutta, present day Kolkata that went through areas in present-day Bangladesh. During the partition of Indian sub-continent in the year 1947, Haldibari became a part of India while Chilahati got merged with East Pakistan. Nevertheless, the old Siliguri- Calcutta Main line continued to operate through erstwhile East Pakistan province till the 1965 India-Pakistan war, breaking all cross-border Railway connections in the Eastern corridor.

The cross border #MetreGauge Railway connections from West Bengal to Bangladesh.

Now the Metre Gauge network of Railway lines, connecting the Indian state of West Bengal with Bangladesh were #Radhikapur- Birale and #Changrabandha- Burimari branch line (part of Lalmonirhat- Malbazar line, was developed by the Bengal Dooars Railway in the closing years of the nineteenth century. With the partition of India in 1947, the Indian side of the line terminated at Changrabandha and the Pakistani side, later Bangladeshi side, at Burimari. Presently, Radhikapur- Birale- Parbatipur is converted to Broad Gauge while Changrabandha- Burimari section is permanently abandoned.

The other two Metre Gauge lines connecting Bangladesh with the Cooch Behar district of the Indian state of West Bengal were #Lalmanirhat- Mogalhat- Dharla River bridge- #Gitaldaha line and #Bamanhat- Golokganj line. #Geetaldaha is a defunct rail transit point on the India-Bangladesh border in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal. The corresponding point on the Bangladeshi side is Mogalhat railway station across the Dharla river in Lalmanirhat District. By the turn of the nineteenth century, Lalmonirhat had emerged as an important railway centre. The links were established with Assam, with the Golokganj- Fakiragram- Amingaon Port line coming up under Eastern Bengal Railway company. In pre-independence days, a 1,000 mm wide Metre Gauge line running via Radhikapur, Biral, Parbatipur, Kaunia Tista, Gitaldaha, Bamanhat and Golokganj connected Fakiragram in Assam with Katihar in Bihar. Thus, this section was the main line Railway passage, operated under the Metre Gauge system to reach Assam's Amingaon Port from Bihar's Semaria Ghat station, located on the banks of Ganges river.

Up to the nineteen sixties, there was a Railway link from West Bengal's Cooch Behar district to Assam's Dhubri district via Golokganj. It was then known as the Assam Line Railway Service, also connecting East Pakistan between Bamanhat and Golokganj, even after the partition. Sonahat is another defunct rail transit point on the abandoned Golokganj- Bamanhat section and it was once connected to Kurigram by a Metre Gauge line. The old Gitaldaha station across the Dharla river from the Mogalhat point was abandoned after the partition and there's a New Gitaldaha station built farther most north towards Bamanhat line. The main pair of Metre Gauge Assam Mail train ran from Katihar to Tinsukia Jn, as mentioned in the 1943 Time Table of Bradshaw India and got attached with its slip pair at Parbatipur Jn station, arriving from Calcutta. From Awadh to Assam, all connections existed via remote most regions of Eastern Bengal province. If to travel through Southern banks of Brahmaputra river and through the Eastern most frontier, the mainline route started from Chittagong Port while it traversed through the 'Barak Valley' hills in Assam province and to the Tinsukia district of Assam via Lumding.

So now the only cross border connection from Assam to Bangladesh, according to the 1991 map showing it abandoned is Mahishasan - Latu point. Mahisasan is a border railway station and a defunct railway transit facility point on the India-Bangladesh border in the Karimganj district of Assam. The corresponding station on the Bangladesh side is Shahbajpur (also known as Latu) in Sylhet District. The border station is linked to Karimganj 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) away. The Mahisasan- Shahbajpur route has not been operational since the 1965 war with Pakistan. However, the international trains ont eh Metre Gauge system were running from Kalaura in East Pakistan to Badarpur in the 1950s decade while the rake belonged to East Pakistan's Eastern Bengal Railway.

The two new cross border connections are about to come from the Tripura state, ie via Agartala to Gangasagar in Bangladesh and Belonia to Feni in Bangladesh. The 15.6-km railway link connects Gangasagar in Bangladesh to Nischintapur in India (10.6 km) and from Nischintapur to Agartala railway station (5.46 km). And if once the dual gauging in the eastern corridor of Bangladesh starts, there will be a direct train service introduced between Tripura's capital Agartala to Kolkata via Taangi, Jumna Rail bridge and Hardinge bridge. The work on the Indian side is in full swing and is expected to complete in the first half of 2021. Nischintapur will have a transhipment yard, the first in the first in the northeast and the passengers and goods coming from Bangladesh will be boarded here. `

Also note that there was no Bangabandhu Bridge over Jumna river, connecting the western and eastern halves of Bangladesh. The people residing in the remote dense areas of Bangladesh between West and East were served by the ferry services on the river. The ferry services or steamers between the West and East banks of rivers were operated across two stretches through the integrated Railway system. There were two major ferry points across the Jamuna river, one between Sirajganj Ghat (western banks of Jumna river) and Jogannathganj Ghat Eastern banks of Jumna river) and the other between Tistamukh Ghat and Bahadurabad Ghat. The Jogannathganj Ghat on the Eastern banks of river was connected on the Metre Gauge system of the Railways network while the western bank of the river was served by the Broad Gauge Railway lines via Ishurdi and through to Calcutta. The construction of the 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi) Bangabandhu Bridge has completely changed the scope of communication systems in this part of the country.

The ferry system at both the Bahadurabad Ghat–Balashi Ghat and the Jagannathganj Ghat- Sirajganj Ghat was virtually closed. Only limited freight transportation continued on the Bahadurabad Ghat- Balashi section. Even that has been closed down in 2010 because of formation of shoal in the river. This line followed the old channel of the Brahmaputra River, right from its point of separation with the Jamuna down to the mouth of the Shitalakshya River, a branch of the Brahmaputra. Notice there is no #Joydebpur (Dhaka- #Mymensingh route)- Tangail and Bangabandhu East Line connection. The Bangabandhu Bridge was built in 1996-97. Upon its finishing stage, the Railways had laid a new Metre Gauge line from Bangabandhu East station to Taraknandi in the year 2008 while they abandoned Taraknandi- Joganathanganj Ghat Metre Gauge line on the banks of Jumna river.

Between Akhaura and Kalaura, Shaistaganj station has a branch line functioning to Hobiganj station as well as Kaluara- Latu line was likely running till the international border point. Presently both these branches are defunct transit points in Bangladesh.