Akhaura-Agartala railway: A milestone of India-Bangladesh railway connectivity

By Samara Ashrat*
The Akhaura-Agartala rail line will be going to be inaugurated soon. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate this rail line along with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September. This project is creating considerable excitement among the people of both of the countries. This connectivity initiative is expected to be a game changer for both India and Bangladesh.
Goods can be transported from other sea ports of India to other states of the North-Eastern region via Agartala from Chittagong and Mongla ports of Bangladesh. As a result, trade in these states will increase as well as it will be possible to transport goods quickly and easily along with reducing the cost of goods transportation.

The project

The Agartala-Akhaura international railway connectivity project is one of India and Bangladesh's most prominent connectivity projects. Akhaura used to be the railway link for Agartala before Independence. Akhaura-Agartala railway line is finally seeing the light. The project is being implemented with an Indian loan. The project officials said that the work of Akhaura-Agartala project has been completed more than 90 percent. The work of laying the railway line is complete.
The railway line, which is 15.064 km long — 5.05 km in India and 10.014 km in Bangladesh — will link Bangladesh's Akhaura, through an international immigration station at Nischintapur, to the outskirts of Agartala. This station will be a dual gauge station for both passenger and goods interchange between India and Bangladesh. The project also includes one major bridge and three minor bridges.
The MoU was signed during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India in January 2010. After that, the project, which started in 2016, is being extended for the fourth time till June 2024. In other words, this project, which has been going on for 13 years, is finally seeing the light of day. The project was supposed to be over in 2020 but was delayed following land acquisition issues and the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The 15-kilometre-long railway line would link Bangladesh's Akhaura through an international immigration station at Nischintapur along the India-Bangladesh border.Once operational, the railway will reduce travel time between Agartala and Kolkata from 31 hours to 10 hours, creating a plethora of opportunities for trade, tourism, and cultural exchange.
The Railway Ministry of India allocated Rs 153.84 crore for this project. The Ministry of DONER (Development of North Eastern Region) is funding the project and that Rs 708.74 crore of the estimated cost has already been provided and utilised.This railway link is part of the 16 transit routes that have been declared allowing cargo transportation from Chattogram or Mongla port to Indian states.

Small but effective

Upon completion of this railway link, two Indian states, including Tripura and West Bengal, will easily be connected with Bangladesh.This new railway link will reduce travel time between the two Indian cities of Kolkata and Agartala. The train from Agartala to Kolkata will cover a distance of 500 kilometres via Dhaka in around 16 hours. Upon completion of the project, the travel time between Agartala and Kolkata via Dhaka, which currently takes about 31 hours, will be reduced to 10 hours.
The 15-km long railway link connecting Agartala with Gangasagar will play a crucial role in the overall development of the North Eastern region. Those from Mizoram, which is 150 kilometres away, and those from Agartala will benefit from the current line.
Not only that, India and Bangladesh have signed an agreement, allowing Indian traders to use Chattogram and Mongla ports in Bangladesh for transportation of goods.. This railway will not only increase the movement of the people of two countries but will also play an important role in the import and export of goods from Chittagong port, resulting in a boost in trade and adding value to the economic development of both nations as well as states. Not only that, this railline would boost the tourism sector of both of the countries.
The new rail project will enhance relations between India and Bangladesh and aid in the growth of small-scale industries in the border area and boost tourism in the northeastern region. Facilitating faster export and import of commodities would benefit local producers in exporting their products outside the country.
---
*PhD fellow, International Relations, University of Bucharest

Comments

The golden crop: How turmeric is transforming women's lives in tribal India

By Vikas Meshram* When the lush green fields of turmeric sway in the tribal belt of southern Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat, it is not merely a spice crop — it is the golden glow of self-reliance. In villages where even basic spices once had to be bought from the market, the very soil today is yielding a prosperity that has transformed the lives of thousands of families. At the heart of this transformation is the initiative of Vaagdhara, which has linked turmeric with livelihoods, nutrition, and village self-governance — gram swaraj.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Authoritarian destruction of the public sphere in Ecuador: Trumpism in action?

By Pilar Troya Fernández The situation in Ecuador under Daniel Noboa's government is one of authoritarianism advancing on several fronts simultaneously to consolidate neoliberalism and total submission to the US international agenda. These are not isolated measures, but rather a coordinated strategy that combines job insecurity, the dismantling of the welfare state, unrestricted access to mining, the continuation of oil exploitation without environmental considerations, the centralization of power through the financial suffocation of local governments, and the systematic criminalization of all forms of opposition and popular organization.

Echoes of Vietnam and Chile: The devastating cost of the I-A Axis in Iran

By Ram Puniyani The recent joint military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran have been devastating. Like all wars, this conflict is brutal to its core, leaving a trail of human suffering in its wake. The stated pretext for this aggression—the brutality of the Ayatollah Khamenei regime and its nuclear ambitions—clashes sharply with the reality of the diplomatic landscape. Iran had expressed a willingness to remain at the negotiating table, signaling a readiness to concede points emerging from dialogue.

False claim? What Venezuela is witnessing is not surrender but a tactical retreat

By Manolo De Los Santos The early morning hours of January 3, 2026, marked an inflection point in Venezuela and Latin America’s centuries-long struggle for self-determination and independence. Operation Absolute Resolve, ordered by the Trump administration, constituted the most brutal and direct military assault on a sovereign state in the region in recent memory. In a shocking operation that left hundreds dead, President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores were illegally kidnapped from Venezuelan soil and transported to the United States, where they now face fabricated charges in a New York federal detention facility. In the two months since this act of war, a torrent of speculation has emerged from so-called experts and pundits across the political spectrum. This has followed three main lines: One . The operation’s success indicated treason at the highest levels of the Bolivarian Revolution. Two . Acting President Delcy Rodríguez and the remaining leadership have abandone...

The selective memory of a violent city: Uttam Nagar and the invisible victims of Delhi

By Sunil Kumar* Hundreds of murders take place in Delhi every year, yet only a few incidents become topics of nationwide discussion. The question is: why does this happen? Today, the incident in Uttam Nagar has become the centre of national debate. A 26-year-old man, Tarun Kumar, was killed following a dispute that reportedly began after a balloon hit a small child. In several colonies of Delhi, slogans such as “Jai Shri Ram” and “Vande Mataram” are being raised while demanding the death penalty for Tarun’s killers. As a result, nearly 50,000 residents of Hastsal JJ Colony are now living in what resembles a state of confinement.

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey* In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Search This Blog