Status Operational Stations 23 Operating speed | Opened 1878 | |
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Track gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ⁄8 in) metre gauge Terminis Parbatipur Upazila, Burimari railway station | ||
The Burimari–Lalmonirhat–Parbatipur line is a railway line connecting Burimari and Parbatipur Junction in northern Bangladesh. It also connects to Kurigram and Ramna Bazar. This track is under the jurisdiction of Bangladesh Railway.
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History
Once Parbatipur came up as a railway station on the Chilahati-Parbatipur-Santahar-Darshana Line in 1876, it became a centre of further railway development. There were two developments, one eastward and the other westward. North Bengal State Railway opened a metre gauge line to Kaunia in 1879. Two narrow gauge lines were laid by Eastern Bengal Railway from Kaunia to Dharla River, thereby creating the Kaunia–Dharlla State Railway. The Kaunia Dharla railway lines were converted to metre gauge in 1901. The Kaunia–Dharla line was extended to Amingaon in 1908. The Assam Behar State Railway started building westward in 1884 and by 1889, Parbatipur was connected with Katihar in Bihar.
By the turn of the century Lalmonirhat Junction had emerged as an important railway centre. Bengal Dooars Railway constructed a line to Malbazar. Cooch Behar State Railway constructed the Geetaldaha-Jayanti narrow gauge line. Links were established with Assam, with the Golokganj–Amingaon line coming up.
Assam links
There were two Assam links through this area, before the Partition of India.
The first and more important one was through Mogalhat–Geetaldaha–Bamanhat–Golokganj. Even when railway links were restored between Pakistan and India in 1955, the line was in order and was one of the agreed transit points. The railway bridge across the Dharla River was subsequently partially washed out and the railway link was snapped.
The second link through Kurigram and Sonahat was snapped earlier with a bridge being washed away within what is now Bangladesh. In 1955, the link was not there.
Defunct rail transit point
The Burimari–Changrabandha rail transit point has become defunct.
The Indian side of the line is now out of service.
The Bangladeshi side of the line is still functional but the track is in bad shape with frequent derailments. There are two local trains in a day running at a limited speed of 8–14 km per hour (as against 45 km per hour in normal sections). Bangladesh Railway has planned for rehabilitation of the line.