Rail Transport in India - International Links

International Links

India has rail links with Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. It also plans to install a rail system in southern Bhutan. A move to link the railways of India and Sri Lanka never materialised.

• Pakistan

Before the Partition of India there were eight rail links between what are now India and Pakistan. However, currently there are only two actively maintained rail links between the two countries. The first one is at Wagah in Punjab. The Samjhauta Express plies this route from Amritsar in India to Lahore in Pakistan. The second one, the Thar Express, opened in 2006 runs between Munabao (in Rajasthan in India) and Khokhrapar (in Sindh in Pakistan). Other discussed links are Ferozepur–Samasata, Ferozepur–Lahore, Amritsar–Lahore, Amritsar–Sialkot and Jammu–Sialkot.

• Bangladesh

After the creation of East Pakistan (later Bangladesh), many trains that used to run between Assam and Bengal had to be rerouted through the Siliguri Corridor. As of March 2010, there exists one passenger link between India and Bangladesh, the Maitree Express, which plies between Kolkata and Dhaka twice a week. A metre gauge link exists between Mahisasan (Mohishashon) and Shahbazpur. Another link is between Radhikapur and Birol. These two links are used occasionally for freight. A rail link between Akhaura in Bangladesh and Agartala in India was approved by the Government of India in September 2011. The 15 km rail line will cost 252 crore and is expected to be completed by 2014.

• Nepal

There are two links between India and Nepal: Raxaul Jn., Bihar–Sirsiya, Parsa and Jaynagar, Bihar–Khajuri, Dhanusa. The former is broad gauge, while the latter is narrow gauge.