Sheikh Shahidullah Al Azad. Staff Reporter:
The train ‘Bondhan’ Express has been launched on the Khulna-Kolkata route after being closed for two long years due to corona. The train left Kolkata on Sunday morning, May 29, and left Khulna at noon. After a long time, passengers are able to travel directly from Khulna to Kolkata. Khulna Railway Station Master Manik Chandra Sarkar said the Bandhan train with 19 passengers left India at 7.45 am on Sunday. The train arrives at Khulna station at 12:50 pm. The ‘Bondhan Express’ with 19 passengers from Kolkata and 45 passengers from Khulna left for Kolkata.
He further said that the train was closed for a long time. There are a few less passengers in today’s journey. The number of passengers will increase later. The train will run on Khulna-Kolkata route every Thursday and Sunday for two days. Regarding the fare and travel tax of the said train, he said that the total price of AC chair ticket of the train is 1 thousand 535 rupees and the fare of cabin is 2 thousand 255 rupees. According to railway sources, on 16 November 2016, the 456-seat ‘Bondhan Express’ international train started running between Kolkata and Khulna. In this air-conditioned train, the seat rent in the cabin is one and a half thousand rupees and the chair coach fare is one thousand rupees. Added travel tax of 500 rupees. Passengers’ passports, visas and all immigration documents are checked and sorted at Benapole land port. Passengers can then travel directly between Khulna and Kolkata. The train has 316 AC chairs and 144 first class seats out of 456 seats. The distance between Kolkata and Khulna is 162 kilometers. Of these, 95 km fell in Bangladesh and 8 km fell in India. The ‘Bondhan Express’ will take passengers from Kolkata at 8:10 am and reach Benapole station at 9:45 am. After the immigration process, the train will leave for Khulna at 10:45 am and reach at 12:30 am. The passengers will leave Khulna again at 1.30 pm and reach Benapole at 3.15 pm. After completing the passport formalities at Railway Immigration in Benapole, he will leave at 4.15 pm and reach Kolkata at 7.10 pm. Asad Sheikh, a passenger from Khulna to Kolkata, said he was going to Kolkata for treatment. Four brothers and friends are on tour. I am in the C-3 bogie of the train. All four of us were in the carriage. It’s a delightful trip. He said that a total of 1,535 rupees per person has been rented for the AC chair seat. The train journey to Kolkata is very comfortable. Due to the Corona epidemic, the inter-country ‘Bondhan Express’ train between Bangladesh and India was stopped from March 15, 2020.