Moitree Express yet to attract enough passengers

Six months after introduction of the first Bangladesh-India train service in April, the Moitree Express is yet to attract the expected number of passengers because of the various hassles and delays involved in the cross-border journey, said railway officials.
The authorities of the two next-door neighbours have failed to come to terms in addressing certain problems such as schedule, travel time and visa procedures that cause more trouble than comfort in travelling by train, the officials admitted.
Compartments of the train were seen to be almost empty during the recent Eid-ul-Fitr and Durga Puja — the two largest religious festivals of Muslims and Hindus respectively when nationals of both the countries, in large numbers, visit their relatives, friends and important places for various purposes. Passengers usually use buses for the cross-border journey.
‘We expected more passengers during the festivals. But unfortunately very few passengers availed themselves of our services due to certain hassles, which, we must admit, bother the passengers greatly,’ observed the director-general of Bangladesh Railway, Belayet Hossain.
He told New Age on Monday that if the passengers go to Kolkata by train according to the current schedule, they have to wait seven days in Kolkata for the next return train. Because of this and many other inconveniences, the passengers travel by bus.
Currently, the Bangladeshi train starts from Dhaka to Kolkata on Saturday and returns from Kolkata on Sunday, while the Indian train plies on the same days.
The top railway official said that because of such a sorry scenario, Dhaka will make several proposals including that of changing the present schedule as well as cutting travel time when the senior railway officials of both the countries meet in the Indian capital.
The Bangladesh-India inter-governmental railway officials’ meeting is scheduled to be held in New Delhi from November 6 to 8 or November 16 to 20.
‘We will propose that the train from Bangladesh should maintain the current schedule while the Indian train should reach Dhaka every Tuesday and go back to Kolkata the next day,’ said Belayet.
Referring to the recently concluded railway officials’ meeting, Belayet said that the Indian delegation mentioned that they had no problem with the schedule of the train operated from Dhaka.
Also, he said, Bangladesh would propose reduction of immigration time from five to three hours, one hour from each side, when they meet in New Delhi next month.
Currently, the 538km journey — 418km in Bangladesh and 120km in India — takes 13 hours, including five hours for customs formalities on both sides of the border.
According to the statistics of the Bangladesh Railway, the Moitree Express has made 54 trips since its commissioning on April 14.
The Moitree Express, with the capacity to carry 418 passengers, only got 5,779 passengers in the last six months, which was only 25 per cent of its capacity.
Some railway officials said that in the New Delhi meeting Dhaka would also propose the opening of a new ticket counter at Kolkata (Chitpur) station, and the opening of a separate booth for VIPs/CIPs/govt officials for completion of customs and immigrations formalities at Gede.
Another railway official observed that both the sides might consider other measures for attracting more passengers, such as having at least two points — Ishwardi and Ranaghat — for picking up passengers, and opening a ticket counter in Chittagong.
At present the train from Bangladesh will have an accommodation capacity of 418 and the Indian train 366. The fare has been fixed at $20 for a berth, $12 for a seat in the air-conditioned compartment and $8 for a seat in the non-air-conditioned chair coach.
The commissioning of the Moitree Express coincided with the Bangla New Year’s Day — Pahela Baishakh —which was April 14 on both the sides of the border this year in spite of certain differences of West Bengal’s and Bangladesh’s calendars.