Travel time between Agartala, Kolkata to reduce by more than half

A brand new railway line will reduce the travel time between Agartala and Kolkata by 21 hours. The 12.3 km Akhaura rail line will pass through Bangladesh's capital Dhaka instead of Guwahati, Assam.

The present line will go to Akhaura which is linked to Dhaka Chittagong rail route and is expected to get operational by 2020.

At present, the travel time between the two cities is over 30 hours which will now be cut down to just 10 hours.

The total distance covered by the train will also be slashed to half from 1600kms to a mere 550 km.

India and Bangladesh have four operational rail links between West Bengal and Western Bangladesh.

"Kolkata is a major destination for people in this area, but as of now there was no direct connectivity to the city. The line will help not only people from Agartala but also those from Mizoram which is 150 km away," Chief engineer of the Rs 570 crore project M S Chauhan said.

The railway line is expected to facilitate freight movement. Goods from the northeastern state can now reach Kolkata in one third the time. 

(With inputs from PTI)