The first container train, carrying 60 containers (TEUs) with a maximum net weight of 27 tonnes in each TEU, from India to Bangladesh was flagged off on a trial run on Tuesday.
According to Harindra Rao, general manager of Eastern Railway, the rolling out of container train services will help reduce costs and will also bring down the transportation time.
While passenger and goods trains run between the two countries, it is for the first time that container trains will be going to Bangladesh from India. The train is carrying close to 1,200 tonnes of de-oiled cake which serves as a raw material for animal feed.
The train, which was flagged off from the Concor terminus near Majherhat station, will travel through Naihati, Ranaghat and Gede in India and Darsana and Ishurdi in Bangladesh before reaching Bangabandhu West station, 117 km from Dhaka. It will take about 24 hours for the train to reach Bangladesh.
“Once the trial run is successful and Bangladesh gives its clearance, then the container train services will be rolled out on a commercial basis. The frequency of trains will determined by the demand,” Rao said.
The bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh is currently largely road-based through the congested Petrapole-Benapole border. On an average, it takes anywhere close to a month for a truck to reach Bangladesh as it takes nearly 25 days for Customs clearance at the border.