The East Bengal Mail was one of three trains operated between India and

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

(now

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 ...

). The rail link was suspended at the outbreak of the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...

Overview

Prior to 1965, when armed conflict broke out between India and Pakistan, rail links existed between India and East Pakistan. Three trains ran between the two countries carrying goods and passengers: (1)

East Bengal Express The East Bengal Express was one of three trains operated between India and East Pakistan. The rail link was suspended at the outbreak of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. Overview Prior to 1965, when armed conflict broke out between India and Pa ...

between Sealdah and

Goalundo Ghat Goalundo Ghat (also spelled Goalanda and Goalondo; bn, গোয়ালন্দঘাট) is a small town and pourasabha in Goalandaghat Upazila, Rajbari District, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh, South Asia. There are two railway stops one a ...

via Gede–

Darshana In Indian religions, ''Darshana'', also spelt ''Darshan'', (Sanskrit: दर्शन, , ) or ''Darshanam'' (darśanam) is the auspicious sight of a deity or a holy person. The term also refers to six traditional schools of Hindu philosophy ...

, (2) East Bengal Mail between Sealdah and

Parbatipur Junction Parbatipur ( bn, পার্বতীপুর) is a railway junction in Dinajpur district of Rangpur Division in Bangladesh. History During the British period all railway connections to Assam and North Bengal were through the eastern part of ...

via Gede–

, and (3)

Barisal Express The Barishal Express was a railway train that was one of three train services running between India and Bangladesh (then East Pakistan). History The Barishal Express launched in 1884. The train connected the Indian city of Kolkata (then Calcu ...

between Sealdah and

Khulna Khulna ( bn, খুলনা, ) is the third-largest city in Bangladesh, after Dhaka and Chittagong. It is the administrative centre of Khulna District and Khulna Division. Khulna's economy is the third-largest in Bangladesh, contributing $53 b ...

via

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 in ...

–

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 ...

History

From 1878, the railway route from Kolkata, then called Calcutta, to Siliguri was in two legs through the eastern part of Bengal. The first leg was a 185 km journey along the Eastern Bengal State Railway from Calcutta Station (later renamed Sealdah) to Damookdeah Ghat on the southern bank of the Padma River, then across the river in a ferry and the second leg of the journey. A 336 km metre-gauge line of the North Bengal Railway linked Saraghat on the northern bank of the Padma to Siliguri. The 1.8 km long Hardinge Bridge across the Padma opened for trains in 1915. Presently, it is between the Paksey and Bheramara stations on the broad-gauge line between

and Parbatipur in Bangladesh. In 1926 the metre-gauge section north of the bridge was converted to broad gauge, and so the entire Calcutta – Siliguri route became broad-gauge. In the pre-independence days, two legendary mail trains used the Sealdah–Parbatipur line. The Darjeeling Mail linked Kolkata, then known as Calcutta, and Siliguri. The

Assam Mail The Assam Mail was one of the better known metre-gauge trains in the Indian Railways system that was there from the pre-independence days. The train was discontinued in 1986 with the completion of the broad-gauge conversion of the metre-gauge l ...

originally ran from Sealdah to

Santahar Santahar ( bn, সান্তাহার) is a railway junction in Adamdighi Upazila in Bogra District of Rajshahi Division in Bangladesh. History From 1878, the railway route from Kolkata, then called Calcutta, to Siliguri was in two laps. T ...

by broad gauge, and onwards by metre gauge from

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

(then spelt Gauhati).

Branch lines

Not only was the mainline an important one but a cursory glance at the route map shows important links. The Maitree Express uses a part of the route from

Iswardi Ishwardi is a railway junction in Bangladesh, situated in the district of Pabna, in the division of Rajshahi. History From 1878, the railway route from Kolkata, then called Calcutta, to Siliguri was in two laps. The first lap was a 185 km jo ...

. Abdulpur is an important junction with links to Rajshahi and the India–Bangladesh border at Rahanpur-

Singhabad Singhabad (also spelled Singabad) is a village in Habibpur CD block in Malda Sadar subdivision of Malda district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is a railway transit point on the Bangladesh-India border. Geography Location Singhabad i ...

. In olden days, it was the route for travel between Malda and Kolkata. Santahar is another important junction, with a metre-gauge connection to many places in the northern part of Bangladesh. In pre-independence days, there was a metre-gauge line:

Katihar Katihar is a city situated in the eastern part of the state of Bihar in India. It is the regional headquarter of Katihar district. It is one of the important cities of Bihar. Also it's a main route of Delhi - Guwahati railway line. History Ka ...

– Radhikapur– Biral– Parbatipur–Tista–Geetaldaha– Golakganj–

Fakiragram Fakiragram is a railway station on the New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section of Barauni–Guwahati line and is located in Kokrajhar district in the Indian state of Assam. A branch line from Fakiragram connects to Dhubri. Trains Major Trains: ...

References

Named passenger trains of India Named passenger trains of Bangladesh International named passenger trains Defunct trains in India History of rail transport in West Bengal Railway services discontinued in 1965 Transport in Kolkata {{India-rail-transport-stub