Staff Reporter : Another Maitri Express train service is going to be launched between Bangladesh and India. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh has proposed the name of the train running on the Dhaka-Jalpaiguri route as 'Mitali Express'. The name will be finalized if India does not object, railway authorities said.

On Sunday (March 21), the Railways announced the proposed names of the new train. According to railway officials, four names were sent to the Prime Minister- Mitali, Sampriti, Suhrid and Bondhu. She selected Mitali from these, will be finalised upon approval from the Indian side. If all goes well, the Prime Ministers of Bangladesh and India will inaugurate the train on March 27, the second day of Indian prime minister's official visit to Dhaka..

It is learned that the train will be operated from both the countries 4 days a week. The train will leave Bangladesh on Monday and Thursday. On the other hand, it has been proposed to leave India on Sunday and Wednesday.

After 55 years, rail communication between the countries via Chilahati-Haldibari route resumed in December, last year.The railways ministry in October announced that Bangladesh and India were planning to introduce a passenger train service on Dhaka-Siliguri route from this March as the restoration work of Chilahati-Haldibari rail link was nearly complete. But the train may not be operated on 27 due to the ongoing suspension of tourist visas by Indian authorities.All Passenger trains that travel between Dhaka-Kolkata and Khulna-Kolkata, have been suspended since March last year due to the pandemic.However, freight trains are still operating.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, were expected to flag off the new train service as part of efforts to revive the rail connectivity that had existed till 1965 between the two neighbours.