Elevation 37 metres (121 ft) Platforms 2 Owner Indian Railways | Owned by Indian Railways Opened 1879 | |
 | ||
Location State Highway 10A, Radikapur, Distt: Uttar Dinajpur, West Bengal
India Operated by Northeast Frontier Railway Line(s) Barsoi-Radhikapur branch line Address Radhikapur, West Bengal 733129 Similar Haldibari railway station, Raiganj railway station, Azimganj Junction railway st, Katwa railway station, Malda Town railway st | ||
Radhikapur is a railway station in Uttar Dinajpur district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a defunct rail transit system on the India-Bangladesh border and is an India-Bangladesh land border checkpoint.
Contents
History
Assam Behar State Railway extended the metre gauge railway from Parbatipur, now in Bangladesh, to Katihar in 1889. In 1948-50, as a part of the Assam Rail Link project, the Fakiragram-Kishanganj sector was connected to the North Eastern Railway network at Barsoi. The railway lines in the area started being converted to 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge from the early 1960s. The Barsoi-Radhikapur sector was converted to broad gauge in 2006.
Radhikapur-Biral transit point
It is a defunct rail transit point on the India-Bangladesh border. The corresponding station on the Bangladesh side is Biral in Dinajpur District. The transit facility in the Radhikapur-Birol sector has remained suspended since 1 April 2005. The railway track on the Indian side has been converted to broad gauge (as per Project Unigauge) while that on the Bangladesh side continues to remain metre gauge.
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."
Bangladesh started export of fertilizer to Nepal utilizing the Rahanpur-Singhabad transit point in November 2011.
Radhikapur still has customs facilities.