AGARTALA: Land acquisition for a 15 km India-Bangladesh railway line has finally begun in both countries -- more than seven-and-a-half-years after the Rs 963 crore ($145 million) project was finalised and a year after the ground-breaking ceremony was performed, an official said here.The Agartala (India)-Akhaura (Bangladesh) railway line would facilitate carriage of goods to and from both the countries and greatly benefit India's land-locked northeastern states. Also, the journey time between Agartala and Kolkata, via Bangladesh, would be reduced by a third, from 1,613-km through mountainous terrain to a mere 514 km. "We have started the land acquisition process this week for the railway project. An NFR official said that the Bangladesh government also started acquiring around 70 acres of land for the project. Subsequently, the metre gauge was converted into broad gauge.Currently, India and Bangladesh have four rail links with West Bengal.

Source: Economic Times July 27, 2017 08:16 UTC