Indian Railways hands over 20 BG Locomotives to Bangladesh

To further strengthen bilateral relationship, 20 Broad Gauge (BG) locomotives were virtually flagged off to Bangladesh in a handing over ceremony held on Tuesday, May 23, 2023 at Rail Bhavan New Delhi, by Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways. From the Bangladesh end, Minister of Railway, Md. Nurul Islam Sujan also joined in virtually. The event was attended by  A.K.Lahoti, Chairman & CEO, Railway Board, Board Members, senior officials of Railway Board and delegates of Bangladesh. The handing over of these diesel locomotives, under grant assistance from the Government of India, fulfills an important commitment made during the visit of Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina to India, in October, 2019. In keeping with the requirements of Bangladesh Railway, the locomotives have been suitably modified by the Indian side. These locomotives will help handle the increasing volume of passenger and freight train operations in Bangladesh. To enhance people to people contact, presently three pairs of passenger trains between India and Bangladesh, namely, Kolkata-Dhaka Maitree Express, Kolkata-Khulna Bandhan Express and New Jalpaiguri- Dhaka Mitali Express are running.