DHAKA: Prime Minsiter Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday (October 16) inaugurated the much-desired Kurigram Express train on the Kurigram-Dhaka-Kurigram route.

The premier launched the intercity train through a video conferencing from her official residence Ganabhaban in Dhaka by waving a green flag and blowing whistle on the flute at noon.

Along with launching of the ‘Kurigram Express’, the premier launched the addition of  the newly imported passenger coaches to currently running two Intercity Trains-- Rangpur Express and Lalmonirhat Express -- to provide better services to the passengers of Rangpur-Dhaka and Lalmonirhat-Dhaka routes.

With this, Bangladesh Railway (BR) launched three Intercity Trains from Rangpur, Kurigram and Lalmonirhat to Dhaka on October 16 aiming to meet up long-standing demand of people of Rangpur region.

As Wednesday is holiday for the train, it will leave Kurigram Railway Station at 7:20am and reach Dhaka at 5:25pm. It will depart from Kamalapur Railway station at 8:45pm and reach Kurigram at 6:20am. 

It has 638 seats of four types – Shovon chair, AC chair, AC seat, AC berth — and the fares are TK 510, Tk 972, Tk 1,168, Tk 1,804 respectively. The annual revenue from the train is expected to be Tk 25 crore.

Later, the Prime Minister, through a video conference, exchanged views with people of various occupations, including beneficiaries of the intercity train who stayed at Kurigram and Rangpur Railway Stations.

Railway Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujan spoke among others in Kurigram.

BDST: 1348 HRS, OCT 16, 2019
RS/SMS