Chilahati Haldibari Rail Link

After the partition, in the year 1947, seven old different rail lines between India and Bangladesh were made operational. By today only five of them are still operational, and the 5th one is the Chilahati-Haldibari Rail link. This rail line connects the Haldibari Railway station of India to the Chilahati region in Bangladesh.

These small steps taken towards the welfare of the neighboring countries can help in the strengthening of their relationship, trade, connectivity, and most importantly the economy. After the wars that took place during the year, 1965 made all the lines shut down, now in the year 2020, this line has been relaunched.

The Chilahati Haldibari Rail Link

After the independence, there were only about 7 different rail routes that were operational between Bangladesh (East Pakistan) and India, both of the nations at that time targeted the revival of the old rail links between the countries. 5 of these rail links connected with Bangladesh were made operational that included: the Chilahati-Haldibari Link, the Petrapole-Benapole Link, the Gede-Darshan Link, The Radhikapur-Birol Link, and the Singhabad-Rohanpur rail Link.

The Chilahati-Haldibari rail Link was operational till the year 1965 as it was the part of the main broad-gauge rail which starts from Kolkata and goes to the Siliguri when the partition happened. Still, after the partition, some trains traveled through the state of Assam and the northern side of Bengal, this was continuously used in traveling through different regions of Pakistan. After the war that took place in the year 1965, all the rail links between Bangladesh and India were cut off.

Later, the construction of the Chilahati-Haldibari rail line was started from the Haldibari railway station and went to the Bangladesh border, got started in the year 2016 and was done by the year 2017. These tracks were restored by Railways of India at an effective cost of Rs. 82 crores. It has also been said that the rail route can bring an effective improvement in the trade economy and also in the social ties between Bangladesh and India. It is also said to start with other South Asian countries that can also benefit from this rail route such as countries like Bhutan and Nepal.

The international Haldibari-Bangladesh border and the Haldibari railway station are 7.5 km and 4.5 km respectively from the Chilahati region. In the year 2015, in the IGRM (Inter-Government railway meeting) which was held in Delhi, there was a joint declaration signed by the government that the Board of Railways have sanctioned the re-construction of the new gauge line. The rail line was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi, and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Mrs. Sheikh Hasina.

Conclusion

As it has been mentioned above in the article, After the partition in the year 1947 few old rail routes were set to be relaunched between Bangladesh and India for the betterment of both the countries. A total of seven rail routes were set operational but today only five of them are operational which are: the Chilahati-Haldibari Link, the Petrapole-Benapole Link, the Gede-Darshan Link, The Radhikapur-Birol Link, and the Singhabad-Rohanpur rail Link.

The Chilahati-Haldibari rail link was only operational till the year 1965, after the wars of 1965 all the railway lines were cut down between India and Bangladesh (then East Pakistan). The distance between both the regions (Chilahati to Haldibari) is about 54 km. This is the fifth rail link that has been inaugurated by the Prime Ministers of both the countries in December of the year 2020. The FAQs section provides additional information which will aid a better understanding of the topic.