The Haldibari–New Jalpaiguri line connecting in

Cooch Behar district Cooch Behar district () is a district of Indian state of West Bengal. Formerly part of the Kamarupa kingdom, the area became the heart of the Kamata Kingdom in the 12th century. During the British Raj, the district was known as Cooch Behar st ...

and in

Jalpaiguri district Jalpaiguri district () is a district of the Indian state of West Bengal. The district was established in 1869 during British Raj. The headquarters of the district are in the city of Jalpaiguri, which is also the divisional headquarters of No ...

in the Indian state of

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 fourt ...

, was since 1878 a part of the Kolkata–Siliguri broad-gauge route. With the partition of India in 1947, while the main part of the route lay in

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 ...

, later

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 two ends of the route lying in India were detached. (For more details see

Howrah–New Jalpaiguri line The Howrah–New Jalpaiguri line is a railway line connecting with in North Bengal in the Indian state of West Bengal. The line continues through North Bengal and western part of Assam to connect with Guwahati. The – link allows trains from ...

). However, the route continued to be operational till 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 ...

. Thereafter, the route had been closed till its reopening in 2020. The rest of the line had been in use in the respective countries.

Gauge changes

The Siliguri–Haldibari line has gone through two successive gauge changes. The line was initially built in

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

by the

Eastern Bengal Railway The Eastern Bengal Railway (full name: "Eastern Bengal Railway Company"; shortened EBR) was one of the pioneering railway companies that operated from 1857 to 1942, in Bengal and Assam provinces of British India. History Formation The Eastern ...

. After

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

since most of the other railway tracks in the area were

metre gauge Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...

, the line was converted from

to metre gauge in 1949. Then in the 1960s, when broad gauge was introduced in the area, the line was converted back to broad gauge and connected to the new station at

New Jalpaiguri New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station (station code NJP) established in 1960, is an A1 category broad gauge and narrow-gauge railway station under Katihar railway division of Northeast Frontier Railway zone. It is the largest as well as the ...

Haldibari–Chilahati section

There were regular services running through the Haldibari-Chilahati section until the

following which the services were abandoned. Following the

independence of Bangladesh Independence of Bangladesh was declared on 26 March 1971, celebrated as Independence Day, from Pakistan. The Independence Day of Bangladesh is celebrated on 26 March when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the Independence of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh ...

there were plans to re-open the section.

Bangladesh Railway Bangladesh Railway ( bn, বাংলাদেশ রেলওয়ে) is the state-owned rail transport agency of Bangladesh. It operates and maintains all railways in the country, and is overseen by the Directorate General of Bangladesh Ra ...

had to construct 7.5 kilometres of new rail tracks from to reach the border while the Indian authorities had to set up 4.5 kilometres of tracks from its border to Haldibari railway station. In the Joint Statement issued on the occasion of the visit of the Prime Minister of India to Bangladesh, on 7 September 2011, it was stated: " Bangladesh Prime Minister expressed her appreciation to the Indian Prime Minister for amendment of the MoU between the Bangladesh and Indian Railways allowing Rohanpur-Singabad as an additional route for both bulk and container cargo for Nepalese rail transit traffic. Bangladesh side also appreciated the assistance from India for the movement of fertilizers from Bangladesh to Nepal by rail route. They also agreed to re-establish rail connections between Chilahati–Haldibari and Kulaura–Mahishashan in the spirit of encouraging revival of old linkages and transport routes between the two countries." The Haldibari-Chilhati section was reopened on 17th December, 2020. The railway link was inaugurated by the Indian prime minister

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 from ...

and his Bangladeshi counterpart

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, Prime Minister ...

, in a virtual bilateral summit.

Electrification

The New Jalpaiguri–Raninagar Jalpaiguri section was completely electrified in 2021 as a part of the Katihar-Guwahati route electrification. The Raninagar Jalpaiguri-Haldibari section's electrification is underway as of 2020.

References

External links

* All trains from New Jalpaiguri to Haldibar

* All trains from Haldibari to New Jalpaigur

, {{DEFAULTSORT:Haldibari-New Jalpaiguri line 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Rail transport in West Bengal Transport in Cooch Behar Transport in Jalpaiguri 1878 establishments in India