Chilahati railway station

v t e Chilahati–Parbatipur– Santahar–Darshana line
Legend
Haldibari–New Jalpaiguri line Haldibari India Bangladesh border Chilahati Mirjaganj Domar Toronibari Nilphamari Nilphamari College Darowani Khairatnagar Saidpur Belaichandi Parbatipur–Panchagarh line Burimari–Lalmonirhat– Parbatipur line Parbatipur Junction Madhyapara mine Bhabanipur Fulbari Birampur Dangapara Hili Bagjana Panchbibi Joypurhat Jamalganj Akkelpur Jafarpur Tilakpur Chhatiangram Santahar–Kaunia line Santahar Junction Helalier Hat Raninagar Sahagola Atrai Ahsanganj Atrai River Birkutsa Madhnagar Naldangar Hat Basudebpur Natore Yasinpur Malanchi Abdulpur–Old Malda line Abdulpur Junction Azimnagar Ishwardi Bypass Iswardi–Sirajganj line Ishwardi Junction Rooppur Paksey Hardinge Bridge Bheramara–Rayta line Bheramara Mirpur Poradah– Goalundo Ghat line Poradah Junction Halsa Kumar River Alamdanga Munshiganj Mominpur Chuadanga Gaidghat Joyrampur Darshana Junction Darshana-Jessore-Khulna line Darshana Bangladesh India border Gede Sealdah– Ranaghat–Gede line
Source: BR Route Map

Chilahati (Bengali: চিলাহাটি) is a border railway station in Bangladesh, situated in Nilphamari District, in Rangpur Division. It is an active railway transit point on the Bangladesh-India border.

Important track in the British period

During the British period all connections from southern parts of Bengal to North Bengal were through the eastern part of Bengal. From 1878, the railway route from Kolkata, then called Calcutta, was in two laps. The first lap was a 185 km journey along the Eastern Bengal State Railway from Calcutta Station (later renamed Sealdah) to Damookdeah Ghat on the southern bank of the Padma River, then across the river in a ferry and the second lap of the journey. A 336 km metre gauge line of the North Bengal Railway linked Saraghat on the northern bank of the Padma to Siliguri.^[1]

The 1.8 km long Hardinge Bridge across the Padma came up in 1912. In 1926 the metre-gauge section north of the bridge was converted to broad gauge, and so the entire Calcutta - Siliguri route became broad-gauge.^[1] The route thus ran: Sealdah-Ranaghat-Bheramara-Hardinge Bridge-Iswardi-Santahar-Hili-Parabtipur-Nilphamari-Haldibari-Jalpaiguri-Siliguri.

With the partition of India, this track got trisected. The through route was formally closed after the India-Pakistan War in 1965.^[2]

Haldibari-Chilahati

There were proposals to return the Haldibari-Chilahati section to working condition. Bangladesh Railway had to construct 7.5 kilometres of new rail tracks from Chilahati to reach the border while the Indian authorities had to set up 4.5 kilometres of tracks from its border to Haldibari railway station.^[2]

In the Joint Statement issued on the occasion of the visit of the Prime Minister of India to Bangladesh, on 7 September 2011, it was stated: "Bangladesh Prime Minister expressed her appreciation to the Indian Prime Minister for amendment of the MoU between the Bangladesh and Indian Railways allowing Rohanpur-Singabad as an additional route for both bulk and container cargo for Nepalese rail transit traffic. Bangladesh side also appreciated the assistance from India for the movement of fertilizers from Bangladesh to Nepal by rail route. They also agreed to re-establish rail connections between Chilahati-Haldibari and Kulaura-Mahishashan in the spirit of encouraging revival of old linkages and transport routes between the two countries."^[3]

The Haldibari-Chilahati link was relaunched on 1 August 2021.^[4]

Saidpur-Chilahati railway line

As of 2010, the 64 kilometres (40 mi) long Saidpur-Chilahati line was in such a bad shape that there was no fast train between Dhaka and Chilahati. In 2010, Taka 103.68 crore was sanctioned for the development of this line.^[5]

References