Lalu announces to begin 'Maitreyee Express' by April 14

Indian Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday announced to start a much-awaited friendship train ‘Maitreyee Express’ to ripe the Indo-Bangla relationship from April 14, the beginning of Bangali New Year ‘Pahela Baishakh’. He was responding the debate of the Lok Sabha members on the issue of presented Railway Budget -2008 last month.

Speaking in the lower house of the Parliament Railway Minister has announced several new declarations including increasing the frequency of several trains and new extensions, developing some railway stations as a ‘Model Station’ and asking global tenders for East and West Freight Corridor.

Giving relieves to millions of Indo-Bangla citizens, Lalu Yadav has stated that friendship train with the name of ‘Maitreyee Express’ will now run again to link the two nations India and Bangladesh similar like the ‘Samjhauta Express’ that links India to Pakistan after being discontinued since 1965, the first India-Pakistan war.

The express will run from Chitpur (of Sealdah railway station zone, Kolkata) to Dhaka Cantonment and return vice versa. The train will take 11 hours duration to cover 345 km distance in which 3 hours will be spend in customs and immigration clearance on the border area while rest of the time in non-stop journey.

The introductory fare of the train has been proposed Rs. 320 and Rs.480 for two AC and two non-AC coaches that will comprises the train and is likely to run on Saturdays and Sundays every weak.

“The frequency of the train is depending upon the response of the passengers”, said railway minister in replying to enhance the frequency of ‘Maitreyee Express’.

Besides this, Lalu Prasad has also announced to increase the frequency of proposed Hazarduari Express that runs between Calcutta and Murshidabad. Now it will run four days a week instead of once, while CPM member Basudev Acharya asked him to make it a daily. Lalu has assured the CPM member to do it later.

The CPI(M) members were still unhappy and asked to Railway Minister of gifted more trains to West Bengal. They had left the lower house of the parliament and meet to Prime Minister to ask the more trains. They have handed over a list of 25 proposal of railway to fulfill their demands. Lalu had later tried to woo them but could not succeed.

Earlier, the proposal of friendship train was hanged in the way for not clearing the matter of India’s proposal for Bangladesh to construct box-type fence in zero lines of frontier at no-man’s land area to check the smuggling. Later last month, Bangladesh’s military backed authority became ready to construct the metal box as India proposed.

The Indo-Bangla Inter-governmental Railway Committee had decided in a three-day meeting in New Delhi that held on February 25-27 this year to begin the train service on the mutual partnership basis as India and Bangladesh will run the train for six month each.

Here is the brief of other announcements made by Railway Minister on Tuesday:

• Ministry is eyeing to achieve the target of Rs.1,00,000 crore in the next fiscal.
• Azamgarh of Uttar Pradesh will be developed, as model stations while Ahmedabad of Gujarat will be refurbished as a world-class station.
• New Garib Rath between Gandhinagar and Delhi.
• Global tenders will be invited for finishing and furnishing East and West Corridor.
• Howrah-Puri Garib Rath will run twice a week, instead of once,
Calcutta-Haldibari Superfast will replace the Sealdah-New Jalpaiguri Express.
• 12-coach EMU trains in place of nine-coach trains for Calcutta suburban services.