The construction of an 11km railway track at two points of the Indian border can open up a new vista in Bangladesh’s rail connectivity with India, Nepal and Bhutan.
The link connecting Chilahati in Bangladesh and Haldibari in India has been abandoned since the 1965 war between India and Pakistan. The other transit route is between Burimari in Bangladesh and Changrabandha in India.
Transport ministers of the eight-member South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), in its regional rail connectivity plans, have spared the two routes, considering the benefits in trade involving four countries.
They have picked up the Indian rail link of Birganj (India-Nepal border)-Raxaul-Katihar and Singabad with Bangladesh’s Rohanpur-Rajshahi-Abdulpur-Ishwardi and the Chittagong Port route and vice versa for Nepal-India-Bangladesh direct rail communications.
But this route needs a trans-shipment facility in Pabna’s Ishwardi as the Bangabandhu multipurpose bridge has load restrictions that bar Indian trains from directly carrying heavy containers destined for India or Nepal.
Railway officials say rehabilitation of only 7.5km of broad-gauge rail link between Chilahati and Haldibari points can open up huge opportunities for intra-Saarc trade and investment.
“Bangladesh can best be linked with India, Nepal and Bhutan through this section,” TA Chowdhury, the former director general of Bangladesh Railway, told the Dhaka Tribune.
“The selected Saarc route [Birgunj-Raxaul-Chittagong] will connect Bangladesh with India and Nepal, while the Chilahati-Haldibari section can link Bhutan besides the two other countries,” he said adding that he several times had proposed the government to include the abandoned route for regional and sub-regional connectivity.
The bordering Chilahati station in Nilphamari district was directly connected by rail link with India’s bordering station Haldibari before the Indo-Pak war, when trains from India used to move frequently.
A couple of months ago, the railway ministry proposed to the commerce ministry to include Chilahati-Haldibari in the Bangladesh-Bhutan transit agreement.
“We will examine the proposal of the railway ministry,” GM Quader, the commerce minister, told the Dhaka Tribune.
This correspondent got a copy of the railway ministry’s proposal stating rehabilitation of the Chilahat-Haldibari route would cost only Tk205m ($250,000).
How to connect
Chilahati station in Bangladesh’s extreme north is connected with the rest of the country’s 28,000km railway network. On the other side of the border, Haldibari station is connected with the Indian railway network. This means that a connection between the two stations will directly connect four nations by rail.
Goods and passengers can be directly transported to the New Jalpaiguri junction in West Bengal from Haldibari station, a distance of only 30.4 kilometres.
The distance between New Jalpaiguri junction and the Hashimara station along the India-Bhutan border in the eastern side is only 133.48 kilometres. Hashimara station is connected by the rest of the road network of Bhutan.
“Hashimara is around 173km off Chilahati. If we can rehabilitate the 7.5km missing link, it will open up a new horizon in regional and sub-regional connectivity promoting people to people to contact,” Md Miajahan, the chief operating superintendent (east), told the Dhaka Tribune.
The Chilahati-Haldibari route can also be connected with the link leading to Birganj, the India’s bordering station with Nepal, railway officials say.
Burimari-Changrabandha Route
The bordering Burimari station in Lalmonirhat district is connected with the Bangladesh Railway’s network through a metre-gauge rail link, while Changrabandha station on the other side of the border is connected with the Indian railway network by a broad-gauge link.
The Bangladesh Railway ministry has proposed constructing three kilometres of broad-gauge rail link connecting Burimari with Changrabandha for sub-regional rail connectivity with India and Bhutan.
Railway authorities also urged the government to build a trans-shipment yard facilitating the movement of goods and passengers from the Indian side to Bangladesh.
Changrabandha station is connected with the New Mal junction by 61.72km rail link. Again, the New Mal junction is linked with Hashimara station, a distance of 78km. So, the distance between Changrabandha and Hashimara station is about 140km.
If built, goods and passengers from Burimari can reach Bhutan via India crossing just 143km.
The Changrabandha-New Mal junction link is connected with the link that leads up to Birganj or Jogobani, another station on India-Nepal border.
Connection with Mongla Port
Landlocked Nepal and Bhutan have shown interests in using Bangladesh’s southwestern Mongla port for international trade.
The railway authorities in its proposal have said both Chilahati-Haldibari and the Burimari-Changrabandha routes would attract Nepal and Bhutan to use Mongla port for regional trade.
“Construction of a 53km broad-gauge rail link from Khulna to Mongla port will facilitate the transportation of goods to and from India, Bhutan and Nepal,” says the proposal.
The project, already selected for implementation, would cost Tk1.7b (over $210m), according to the proposal.
