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Kolkata: Thousands of people queued up here on Friday as ticket sales began for the India-Bangladesh Moitree (friendship) Express that will resume services after 43 years on Bengali New Year's Day on Monday.
"Tickets are available at Eastern Railway ticket-booking counter in Fairly Place from 10am to 5pm from Friday onwards. People will get tickets on showing their passport and visa. Fares are kept at $8 (Dh29.36) and $20 (Dh73.4). Initially it was decided passengers would get tickets in exchange of dollars only. But now they can also buy tickets in rupees," said Sameer Goswami, Eastern Railway spokesperson.
"The excitement of people can be estimated by the fact that they are standing in line for tickets since 5am. There are already about 3,000 people in the queue," he said.
The train, which will start on Poila Boishakh (Bengali New Year's Day), will run every weekend between Chitpur Station in Kolkata and Cantonment Station in Dhaka through the Darshana border.
"It's an eight-hour journey that starts on Poila Boishakh, redefining the friendship of the two countries. But the verification of passport, visa and other official paper works will take six hours more," said Mahbubur Rahman, a senior official of the Bangladesh communication ministry.
Verification procedure
"We have requested the Indian High Commission to keep the verification procedure short yet fool proof so that passengers will not feel harassed," he added.
"Keeping in mind terrorist activities that always come between India-Bangladesh friendship, we are stressing most on security. The train will not stop within 30 km of the border even if the chain is pulled," Rahman said.
Rahman and Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty had on Wednesday signed the supplementary deal on the commissioning of the cross-border passenger train.
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