Agartala Is So Far Away From Kolkata

Agartala is India’s third international internet gateway after Mumbai & Chennai. You must be wondering what on earth I have been writing a piece on Agartala. According to the 2011 census, 2,414,774 Bengali-speaking people live in Tripura which is 65.73% of the entire population. The commonality of language and ethnicity is the connecting factor between two states West Bengal & Tripura.

But Agartala is so far away from Kolkata. The distance between Kolkata to Agartala is 1559 km. So if you want to reach Agartala from Kolkata via road or train, you have to travel almost the entire north-east. If you avail NH 27 to reach Agartala from Kolkata, it would take 41 hours.

Usually, people of both West Bengal and Tripura take air service to commute. However, I think there should be a train route from Kolkata to Agartala other than the existing ones. I mean that there should be a direct train route from Kolkata to Agartala via Dhaka.

The distance from Kolkata to Dhaka is 393 Kms and Dhaka to Agartala distance is 90 km. The total distance, Kolkata to Agartala, is around 500 km, 1/3rd of the current one (the black line on the map).

If there is a rail line between Agartala and Kolkata via Dhaka, it will not only impact the trade and commerce of India and Bangladesh, also it would bring the northeast much closer to India.

The two governments, India and Bangladesh, need to lay a 90 km rail line from Dhaka to Agartala. It will not only generate revenue for the railways but people of the northeast will not feel disengaged. At times, I feel northeast is so far away from Kolkata. People of West Bengal primarily favor north or west India.

        (Image Source: Google Map)