The Bandhan Express train ( bn, বন্ধন এক্সপ্রেস) is an international express rail service which runs between the Indian city

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

and the

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

i city Khulna every week. It is the second modern day, fully air conditioned passenger train link between the Indian state

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

and Bangladesh. The Bengali word ''Bandhan'' means ''bonding'' when translated to English. It was initially referred to as the

Maitree Express The Maitree Express train ( bn, মৈত্রী এক্সপ্রেস), pronounced ''Moitree Express'' is the first modern day, fully air conditioned, international, express train service connecting Dhaka in Bangladesh to Kolkata in th ...

II. A valid visa and passport is required before purchasing a ticket for the Bandhan Express train. Tickets are available at

Khulna railway station Khulna Railway Station is a railway station in Khulna, Bangladesh. The railway station is the main station of the city, and links to rest of the country via the Darshana-Jessore-Khulna Line Intercity Trains From Khulna Mail Trains From Kh ...

in Bangladesh and at Chitpur Station in Kolkata, India. The commercial run of this train was suspended in the wake of

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

since March 2020. However, the train resumed its service again from 29 May 2022.

History

Prime Minister of India,

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament fro ...

; Prime Minister of Bangladesh,

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina Wazed (''née'' Sheikh Hasina ; ; bn, শেখ হাসিনা ওয়াজেদ, Shēkh Hasinā, , born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh since January 2 ...

; and

Chief Minister of West Bengal The Chief Minister of West Bengal is the representative of the Government of India in the state of West Bengal and the head of the executive branch of the Government of West Bengal. The chief minister is head of the Council of Ministers and ap ...

, Mamata Banerjee, flagged off the Kolkata–Khulna Bandhan Express train service via video conference from on 9 November 2017.

Naming

After the Kolkata–Dhaka

train was operational, it was proposed to name this second India–Bangladesh train on the Kolkata–Khulna route as 'Sonartari'. But the same name is used in the railways and trains of both countries and hence it was omitted. Then the names ''Sampritee'' and ''Bandhan'' were offered. Finally the name ''Bandhan'' meaning ''Bonding'' was unanimously accepted.

Route

The route recreates the previous Barisal Express route. The train starts at

Kolkata railway station Kolkata railway station (formerly known as Chitpur station) is the newest of the five intercity railway stations serving Howrah and Kolkata, India; the others are Sealdah station in Kolkata and Howrah station, Shalimar station and in Howrah. ...

on the Indian side, stopping at

Dum Dum Dum Dum is a city and a municipality of Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of Kolkata urban area and also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). Etymology During the 19th ...

and Bangaon before reaching the Indian border at

Petrapole Petrapole is the Indian side of Petrapole- Benapole border checkpoint between India and Benapole of Bangladesh, on the Bangladesh-India border, near Bongaon in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. Petrapole border is the only land port ...

. The train then crosses to

Benapole Benapole ( bn, বেনাপোল) is a township in Sharsha Upazila in the Jessore District of Bangladesh. The Petrapole Customs station of India is situated across the border and since 1971 (some sources say 1947), many people have travell ...

on the Bangladeshi side, going through Jhikargachha &

Jessore Jessore ( bn, যশোর, jôshor, ), officially Jashore, is a city of Jessore District situated in Khulna Division. It is situated in the south-western part of Bangladesh. It is the administrative centre (headquarter) of the eponymous district ...

, before reaching

. There are no immigration or customs checks at the international border between India and Bangladesh for this train. The immigration process is done in Kolkata and Khulna. A valid visa and passport is required before purchasing a ticket for the Bandhan Express train. Tickets are available at Khulna Railway Station in Bangladesh and at Chitpur Station in Kolkata, India. On 8 March 2019 both Government agreed to make a 3-minute halt at Jessore in order to attract more passengers and 200 tickets are reserved for the passengers from Jessore station.

Timings and frequency

Since its inauguration, the train run only on Thursday but in February 2020, the frequency was increased and now the train runs twice in a week (i.e. Sunday and Thursday).

Coach composition

Pure

LHB coach Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coach is a passenger coach of Indian Railways that is developed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch of Germany (renamed Alstom LHB GmbH in 1998 after the takeover by Alstom and now known as Alstom Transport Deutschland) and mostl ...

in red-grey (used by

Rajdhani Express Rajdhani may refer to: * ''Rajdhani'' (film), 1956 Indian film * ''Rajadhani'' (1994 film), Indian Malayalam-language film * ''Rajadhani'' (2011 film), Indian Kannada-language film * Rajdhani, Kotli, a village in Pakistan * Rajdhani, Gorakhpur, ...

es) and sky blue-grey (used by

Shatabdi Express Shatabdi Express trains are a series of fast passenger trains operated by Indian Railways to connect important metro cities. Shatabdi Express are day-trains and mostly return to their origin station the same day. The trains were first introd ...

es) manufactured in India, are used for this train. * It comprises 4 Executive Chair (EC), 4 AC Chair car (CC) and 2 Generator cum luggage cum guard van, hence, a total of 10 coaches. ;Legends ; Rake composition of 13129 down Kolkata to Khulna * while 13130 up Khulna to Kolkata has reverse rake composition of 13130

Gallery

File:Bandhan Express at Khulna.jpg, Bandhan Express entering at Khulna

References

External links

Bangladesh Railway
{{International trains from India Benapole Petrapole Named passenger trains of India Named passenger trains of Bangladesh International named passenger trains Transport in Kolkata Bangladesh–India relations Rail transport in West Bengal Transport in Khulna