Bangladesh Railway has proposed "the most convenient" route for rail transit to Nepal, ahead of the prime minister's India visit, top officials have said.

They said if Dhaka could strike deals with Delhi and Katmandu on Chilahati-Haldibari as the transit point, on the Bangladesh-India border, it would be most convenient for rail passage of goods to Nepal.

India's Jogbani station on the Nepal border, is just 35 kilometres from Chilahati in Bangladesh. The station is also close to Bhutan.

On the other hand, the Rahanpur-Singhabad border point, which Bangladesh and India appear to have settled on as a likely transit point on their shared border, is more than 150 kilometres from Jogbani station, officials say.

Bangladesh Railway director general Md Belayet Hossain told bdnews24.com Monday that he would soon send a delegation to India for discussion on making Chilahati-Haldibari the cargo transit point and other outstanding railway issues.

"We have identified the transit point into (Chilahati-Haldibari) for the best rail route to Nepal, but it is up to the government to make a final decision," Hossain said.

He said Bangladesh will have to construct just eight kilometres of new broad gauge tracks while India would need to build three kilometres on its territory for the proposed route.

He said the Bangladesh Railway had broad gauge tracks up to the border with India there, but the link was removed some years ago.

"We have sent the proposal on Chilahati-Haldibari to the ministry (of communication) ahead of the prime minister's visit," Quazi Asadullah, the railway's additional director general, told bdnews24.com Monday at his office.

"We think this route is closest and most convenient," he said.

A mid-ranking railway official told bdnews24.com that Bangladesh must sign deal separate deals with India and Katmandu to introduce a new transit route.

Bangladesh and Nepal signed a transit deal in 1976 for boosting trade, but the agreement could not be implemented as India would not allow its territory to be used for passage at that time.

Dhaka later signed two separate deals with Delhi and Kathmandu for making Birol-Radhikapur the transit point into India for passage to Nepal.

But the two railway authorities could not run trains over the border there as Bangladesh railway had metre gauge tracks while India had broad gauge.

Indian railway authorities then put forward Rahanpur-Singhabad as Bangladesh's entry point, but Indian customs objected as the two countries had no transit agreement on the route.

During foreign minister Dipu Moni's Delhi visit in September, India offered to give Bangladesh transit facilities to Bhutan and Nepal.

Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao, during bilateral talks with Bangladeshi counterpart Mohamed Mijarul Quayes in Dhaka this week, proposed to give Bangladesh railway transit through three possible points to Nepal.

Birol-Radhikapur and Rahanpur-Singhabad were positively identified while a third unnamed route was still under consideration of the two countries.

Source: bdnews24.com

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