Gede railway station

Gede is the last railway station and border checkpoint on the Indian side of the Bangladesh-India border in Krishnaganj CD Block in Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. The corresponding station on the Bangladesh side is Darshana. It is the terminal station on the Sealdah-Gede section of Kolkata Suburban Railway system.[1]

Gede
Indian Railway Station Kolkata Suburban Railway Station
Location	Gede, Nadia, West Bengal India
Coordinates	23°29′44″N 88°46′37″E
Elevation	15 metres
Owned by	Indian Railways
Operated by	Eastern Railway
Platforms	3
Tracks	3
Construction
Structure type	Standard (on ground station)
Parking	Available
Bicycle facilities	Not available
Disabled access	Not available
Other information
Status	Functioning
Station code	GEDE
Zone(s)	Eastern Railway
Division(s)	Sealdah
History
Opened	1862
Electrified	1997-98
Previous names	Eastern Bengal Railway
Services
Preceding station   Kolkata Suburban Railway   Following station Harish Nagar Halt toward Sealdah Eastern Line Gede line Terminus
Location
Gede Location in West Bengal Show map of West Bengal Gede Location in India Show map of India

History

Gede was one of the stations on the Sealdah-Goalundo route of East Bengal Railway. With the partition of India in 1947, it became a border town. Thereafter there were three trains from Sealdah running into East Pakistan: the East Bengal Express, the East Bengal Mail and the Barisal Express. The services all ceased after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. Freight trains ran on Petrapole-Benapole, Gede-Darshana and Singhabad-Rohanpur lines off and on since 1972 after the independence of Bangladesh, and more regularly after transport agreements were signed by the two countries in the 1990s.[2]Radhikapur-Birol section was another section for movement of goods traffic. As of 2002, the Gede-Darshana section accounted for the bulk of the exports handled by the Indian Railways (both the Eastern Railway and the Northeast Frontier Railway together) for Bangladesh.[3]

A direct train between Dhaka and Kolkata, named Maitree Express (Maitree is a Sanskrit word meaning friendship) commenced on 14 April 2008. The train is managed by Indian Railways and Bangladesh Railway. The approximate distance covered by Maitree Express is estimated at around 375 kilometres (233 mi), a stretch of 114 kilometres (71 mi) in India and a stretch of 261 kilometres (162 mi) in Bangladesh. The train follows the border point route at Gede-Darshana. The train runs on Saturdays and Sundays every week.[4] Passengers of the Maitree Express are irked by the five-hour wait for immigration and customs clearance at the border stations of Darshana and Gede.[5]

Trans-Asian Railway

Currently, all freight traffic originating from Asia destined for Europe goes by sea. The Trans-Asian Railway will enable containers from Singapore, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and Korea to travel over land by train to Europe. The Southern Corridor of the Trans-Asian Railway is of prime interest to India. It connects Yunnan in China and Thailand with Europe via Turkey and passes through India.[6]

The proposed route will enter India through Tamu and Moreh in Manipur bordering Myanmar, then enter Bangladesh through Mahisasan and Shabajpur and again enter India from Bangladesh at Gede. On the western side, the line will enter Pakistan at Attari. There is a 315 kilometres (196 mi) missing link on this route in the India-Myanmar sector; of this, 180 kilometres (110 mi), in India, is between Jiribam in Manipur and Tamu in Myanmar. The rail link between Jiribam and Imphal has been sanctioned by Indian Railways, but that is unlikely to be completed before 2016. At present construction work is in progress in a 97 kilometres (60 mi) stretch between Jiribam and Tupul.[7][8][9][10]

References

1. "Gede railway station". India Rail Info.
2. "Train links Dhaka, Kolkata". New Age, 16 April 2008. Archived from the original on 21 April 2008. Retrieved 2009-08-15.
3. Santanu, Santanu. "Poor facilities railroad Petrapole-Benapole traffic". The Hindu Business Line, 3 June 2002. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
4. "International Trains from India". railwaysheadlinesindia. Archived from the original on 22 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-15.
5. Ashraf, Shamim. "Dhaka-Kolkata Train Service - Long waits for customs job discouraging passengers". The Daily Star, 14 August 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
6. "Trans-Asian Railway". Streamline Supply Chain. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
7. "Agreement on Trans-Asian railway passing through Manipur signed". Larkhawm. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
8. "India signs accord on trans-Asian railway network". The Hindu, 1 July 2007. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
9. "B'desh segment of TAR route preparation shows progress". Financial Express, 18 March 2011. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
10. "Manipur gets rail gift for Trinamul bypoll win - Tall promises of connecting all capitals of region leaves Northeast industry captains unimpressed". The Telegraph, 26 February 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.