Kolkata-Khulna train service kicks off on Pahela Baishakh

A new passenger train service connecting Kolkata with Khulna will hit tracks on this Pahela Baishakh, the first day of Bangla calendar, officials said.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi are likely to flag off the trial run between the two cities during her visit to the neighbouring country from April 7 to 10.

The maiden voyage will commercially begin on April 14, our Kolkata correspondent reports quoting Rabi Mahapatr, chief public relations officer of India’s Eastern Railway.

Sources at Indian railway ministry told the correspondent that green signal was given to conduct a test run on April 8. Earlier, all ground works were completed for the launch of the train service.

Freight trains, carrying stones and boulders among other goods, are already running between Khulna and Kolkata.