Bangladesh Railways and Indian Railways showed significant improvement in collaboration amid coronavirus outbreak, with more than 100 trains operating in June this year.
Indian Railways handed over 103 freight trains carrying vital commodities such as onions, ginger, chilies, maize, turmeric, rice seeds, sugar, finished products, and raw materials to Bangladesh Railways last month.
While daily freight train operations are taking place between the two railroads, the number of freight trains run by the two railroads crossed the 100 marks for the first time, said the Indian High Commission in Dhaka on Thursday.
Both railroads had come up with solutions for transporting all the essential goods across borders when both countries imposed locking and transport restrictions to tackle the spread of Covid-19.
Many importers are now using the rail route to transport their goods, although they usually do not depend on rail transport services.
Upon seeing the success of the movement of goods by rail, now Bangladesh Railways has permitted to introduce the Parcel Train Service between India and Bangladesh.
The carrying capacity of the parcel train will be 238 metric tons.
This will be a great opportunity for traders to import a smaller quantity of goods, said the Indian side.
Earlier, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das had requested the Ministry of Railways, NBR, and Ministry of Commerce to look into railways as a viable option during several video conference meetings arranged by the High Commission of India.
After discussions, now NBR and Bangladesh Railways have agreed to facilitate Container Train Service through Benapole-Petrapole Rail Link.
It is expected that these initiatives will greatly serve the needs of importers and exporters in the current crisis and help to minimize disruption in the supply chain, the Indian High Commission said.
