In news: Agartala-Akhaura Rail Link to be completed by September 2021
About Agartala-Akhaura Rail Link
- It connects India(Tripura) and Bangladesh
- Though originally designed as a 15.6 km-long railway track 10.6 km in Bangladesh and 5.46 km in India it was later shortened to 10 km.
- It connects Gangasagar in Bangladesh to Nischintapur in India and from Nischintapur to Agartala railway station.
- Six kilometres of the new route falls in Bangladesh and 4 km in the Indian State of Agartala.
- The project is aimed to link the British-era Akhaura Junction with Agartala Railway Station to commence train connectivity between the two neighbouring countries.
- Funding: Ministry of External Affairs, India is funding the track laying in Bangladesh while the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region has taken on the track laying on the Indian side. Ircon International Limited (formerly Indian Railway Construction Limited) has been assigned construction work on both sides of the border.
- The two Indian Ministries are bearing the costs from construction work to land acquisition to resettlement of people being evicted for the completion of the project.
- Akhaura used to be the railway link for Agartala during the British era. It also connected Chittagong Port in Bangladesh and Tripura.
- The concept of the Akhaura-Agartala railway project came in 2010. Three years later, both India and Bangladesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the railway project along with other issues.
- With its opening, this would be the first railway route from North East India to Bangladesh.
Source: The Hindu
