Bangladesh and India have started the process of restarting three cross-border passenger trains, the Maitree, Bandhan, and Mitali Express services, with formal discussions set to take place at the annual Inter-Governmental Railway Meeting between the two countries’ railway authorities. The two-day meeting begins in Dhaka, and railway officials say the issues to be raised with their Indian counterparts have already been finalised on the Bangladesh side. If both governments reach agreement during the talks, all three trains could resume operations as early as next month.
Why the Trains Stopped Running
The Maitree, Bandhan, and Mitali Express services were suspended in July 2024 amid the mass uprising that led to Sheikh Hasina’s government being ousted. The Maitree Express, which connects Dhaka and Kolkata, ran its last trip on 19 July 2024, along with the Bandhan Express linking Khulna and Kolkata and the Mitali Express connecting Dhaka with New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal. Indian Railways confirmed at the time that all passenger and freight operations between the two countries had been halted indefinitely as the political situation in Bangladesh remained volatile. More than two years on, with conditions having gradually stabilised, both sides now appear ready to bring the services back.
A New Route on the Table
Beyond restarting the three existing trains, Bangladesh is set to propose an entirely new passenger service connecting Rajshahi with Kolkata. The idea is not new. A Rajshahi-Kolkata rail link was first announced in 2024 following a meeting between the two countries’ then prime ministers, framed as the revival of a route that had not operated in 77 years and one of several connectivity initiatives unveiled at the time. Bangladesh is also expected to raise interest in operating the Maitree Express along an alternate route between Dhaka and Kolkata via the Padma Bridge, a corridor that could shorten journey times once fully integrated into the cross-border network.
What These Trains Have Meant for Travellers
Before their suspension, these three services formed the backbone of rail connectivity between India and Bangladesh, all of them modern, fully air-conditioned trains running on shared broad-gauge track. The Maitree Express covered the roughly 400-kilometre run between Kolkata and Dhaka Cantonment in under nine hours, operating five days a week, while the Mitali Express handled the longer 524-kilometre journey between New Jalpaiguri and Dhaka in just over ten hours on a twice-weekly schedule. The Bandhan Express, running twice a week between Kolkata and Khulna, rounded out the network. The Maitree service in particular had built a reputation among Bangladeshi nationals who travelled to Kolkata in large numbers for medical treatment, a use case that made its suspension particularly disruptive for regular cross-border travellers.
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A Pattern of Starts and Stops
This will not be the first time these trains have needed reviving. All three services were also suspended for more than two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, only resuming in May and June of 2022 with tickets selling out almost immediately once services restarted. That history suggests strong underlying demand for cross-border rail travel between the two countries, even as political and public health disruptions have repeatedly interrupted service over the past several years.
What Happens Next
With the Inter-Governmental Railway Meeting now underway in Dhaka, the coming days should clarify whether India agrees to the proposed timeline for restarting all three trains, along with how it responds to Bangladesh’s pitch for the new Rajshahi-Kolkata service and the Padma Bridge routing for Maitree. Given that both sides have previously restored these links after even longer suspensions, expectations are cautiously optimistic that regular passenger rail service between the two countries could be back on track within weeks rather than months, provided the talks conclude successfully.
