Among the 22 pacts signed between India and Bangladesh are three transport connectivity agreements.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina announced a bus service between Kolkata and Dhaka via Khulna.

A new passenger train service was also announced from Kolkata to Khulna. Another rail link between Birol and Radhikapur was announced for goods trains.

KOLKATA-KHULNA-DHAKA ROUTE: 10 POINTS Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina flagged off the trial run of the Kolkata-Khulna train through video-conference. The train service has been named as Maitree Express-II. The Maitree Express-II will travel a total distance of about 176 km, 80 km of which is in India while the rest 96 km stretch falls in Bangladesh. The train will pass through Petrapole - the last station on the Indian side of the border - and Benapole - the first station on the Bangladesh side. (Photo: @RailMinIndia) (Photo: @RailMinIndia) The trial run train rolled from the Khulna railway station at 8 in the morning yesterday and entered India at around 1.40 in the afternoon. A 43-member Bangladeshi delegation was aboard the train. A regular Kolkata-Khulna train service is likely to be available from July. The two sides of erstwhile united Bengal were connected through train service before the partition of India in 1947. Train service was available from Sealdah to Khulna and Jessore. The train service was suspended during the 1965 India-Pakistan war. Bangladesh was then part of Pakistan as East Pakistan. The War of Liberation in 1971 gave birth to Bangladesh. The train service started between India and Bangladesh in 2008 when Maitree Express-I was launched. (Photo: @RailMinIndia) (Photo: @RailMinIndia) The trail run of Kolkata-Khulna-Dhaka bus service was also launched yesterday. Three buses were flagged off from Nabanna in Kolkata. Through Khulna route, one can now reach Dhaka from Kolkata in 13 hours. It will take seven hours to reach Khulna from Kolkata. Bus services are already operational on Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala and Kolkata-Dhaka routes. The Kolkata-Dhaka route was launched in 1999. The Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala route was opened in 2015. (Photo: @MORTHIndia) (Photo: @MORTHIndia) The Kolkata-Khulna-Dhaka bus will travel a distance of around 410 kilometres. It will pass through Tungipara - the birthplace of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It is also the birthplace of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was born there in 1947. Buses will depart on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from Kolkata while on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from Dhaka. The regular bus service on Kolkata-Khulna-Dhaka route is likely to be available from June. The West Bengal Transport Corporation will run the service on Indian side while the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation will handle the project on the other side.

(Photo: @RailMinIndia) (Photo: @RailMinIndia)

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