Maitree Express
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The Maitree Express (Hindi: मैत्री एक्सप्रेस), or Moitree Express (Bengali: মৈত্রী এক্সপ্রেস), is the name of international passenger train servies connecting Bangladesh to the Indian state of West Bengal. The name Maitree Express means the Friendship Express, denoting the significance of the train service to the foreign relations between India and Bangladesh. Train services between the two countries existed before the partition of India - the Maitree Express re-established this connection between the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka with Kolkata, the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, in 2008 after being closed for 43 years. In 2017, a second train (the Maitree Express-II) was inaugarated connecting Kolkata with the Bangladeshi city of Khulna, recreating the previous Barisal Express route.
The Partition of India in 1947 disrupted rail links in the province of Bengal, which was divided into the Indian state of West Bengal (পশ্চিমবঙ্গ) and the Pakistani province of East Bengal (later renamed East Pakistan in 1956). During British rule over the undivided land, regular over-night trains connected Kolkata, Goalanda, Dhaka and Narayanganj. In addition pre-partition, Darjeeling Mail connecting Kolkata (Sealdah Station) with Siliguri ran through what became East Pakistan via Gede-Darshana and Chilahati-Haldibari. Three train services from Sealdah—East Bengal Mail to Parbatipur Junction via Gede-Darshana, East Bengal Express to Goalundo Ghat via Gede-Darshana, and the Barisal Express to Khulna via Benapole-Petrapole—continued operation between the two countries until 1965, when the outbreak of the Indo-Pakistani Conflict of 1965 led to the closure of all passenger train links. The Bangladesh war of Independence in 1971 resulted in the independence of East Pakistan as the nation-state of Bangladesh. The Maitree Express follows the same route as the first two trains above via Gede-Darshana.
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