Biral railway station

Biral
Bangladesh Railway Station
General information
Location	Biral, Dinajpur  Bangladesh
Coordinates	25°37′56″N 88°33′05″E
Line(s)	Parbatipur-Panchagarh branch line
Construction
Structure type	Standard (on ground station)
Other information
Status	Functioning
History
Opened	1879
Previous names	Assam-Behar State Railway
Location Biral railway station Location in Bangladesh

v t e Barsoi–Radhikapur branch line
km Barsoi–New Farakka section 0 Barsoi Katihar–Siliguri line 4 Dhachna 11 Kachna Bihar West Bengal border 15 Jhitkia Katihar–Siliguri line 43 Dalkhola Katihar–Siliguri line 36 Domohona 31 Karandighi 23 Tunidighi 19 Altapur 14 Bilashpur Hat Nagri River Kulik River Raiganj–Dalkhola line (planned) 21 0 Raiganj to Itahar (planned) 28 Bamangram 32 Bangalbaree 41 Kaliyaganj to Buniadpur (planned) 47 Dalimgaon 53 Radhikapur India Bangladesh border 63 Biral Parbatipur–Panchagarh line 69 Kanchan Parbatipur–Panchagarh line km
Source: India Rail Info[1]

Biral (Bengali: বিরল) is a border railway station in Bangladesh, situated in Dinajpur District, in Rangpur Division. It is a defunct railway transit point on the Bangladesh-India border and is an India-Bangladesh land border checkpoint.

History

Assam Behar State Railway extended the metre gauge railway from Parbatipur to Katihar, now in Bihar, India, in 1889.^[2]

Biral-Radhikapur transit point

It was a defunct rail transit point on the Bangladesh-India border. The corresponding station on the Indian side is Radhikapur railway station in Uttar Dinajpur district, West Bengal.^[3][4] The transit facility in the Biral-Radhikapur sector had remained suspended since 1 April 2005. The railway track on the Indian side has been converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge while that on the Bangladesh side remained metre gauge.^[5]

The Radhikapur-Birol rail link was put back in operation in April 2017.^[6][7][8]

As per the Memorandum of Understanding entered into by Bangladesh and India on 15 August 1978 it was agreed to facilitate overland transit traffic between Bangladesh and Nepal. An addendum was made on 6 September 2011, to add new rail routes for facilitating overland transit traffic between Bangladesh and Nepal. The addendum read:
"1."Traffic in Transit” to/from Nepal and Bangladesh shall move through Indian territory by rail using Singhabad Railway station in India and Rohanpur Railway station in Bangladesh with their existing facilities. To ensure expeditious and smooth flow of such movement, necessary infrastructural facilities shall be provided by the two Parties within their respective territories.
"2.The existing rail route through Radhikapur Railway station in India and Birol Railway station in Bangladesh which has been suspended shall be brought into operation by converting Bangladesh portion into broad gauge. In this case, both the routes (proposed and the existing) shall be used for Nepal Transit Traffic by rail for additional operating convenience."^[9]

Bangladesh started export of fertilizer to Nepal utilizing the Rohanpur-Singhabad transit point in November 2011.^[10]

Track conversions

The Parbatipur-Panchagarh and Kanchan-Biral lines are being developed as dual gauge tracks. The 9 km long track from Biral to the Bangladesh-India border is being converted to broad gauge at a cost of Tk 9.81 billion by the Western Zone of Bangladesh Railway.^[11]

References

1. "Old Malda Singhabad Passenger 55710". India Rail Info.
2. "IR History:Early days II". 1870-1899. IRFCA. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
3. "Collision kills woman on Vellore trip". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. 23 August 2008. Archived from the original on September 13, 2012. Retrieved 2009-08-15.
4. "Govt weighs rail links with Nepal, Bhutan". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. 21 April 2008. Archived from the original on September 12, 2012. Retrieved 2009-08-15.
5. "Rail Link with Bangladesh". Press Information Bureau, Government of India, 7 September 2007. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
6. "India-Bangladesh Relations" (PDF). Page 5: Connectivity. Ministry of External Affairs. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
7. "PM Modi, Hasina inaugurate two rail, road connectivity projects, ANI 8 April 2017". Yahoo News. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
8. "Position paper on Bangladesh Railways" (PDF). Eight interchange points between India and Bangladesh. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
9. "Addendum to MOU between India and Bangladesh to facilitate overland transit traffic between Bangladesh and India, 6 September 2011". Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
10. "Bangladesh export to Nepal thru India resumes tomorrow". Priyo. Archived from the original on 2012-04-06. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
11. "West Zone railway undertakes uplift projects of Tk 13.34 b". The Financial Express. Dhaka. 12 August 2009. Retrieved 2013-03-05.