Watching the news, you could be forgiven for thinking that Bangladesh was not so much a country as a disaster zone. But you'd be surprised. It is a fascinating country with a rich and varied history and at present fairly few tourists. Bangladesh has a largely British-built rail network linking most major towns and cities, including Dhaka & Chittagong. The network is divided into two halves, eastern and western, by the great rivers which divide the country itself. The western network is largely broad gauge, the eastern network largely metre gauge. Unfortunately, connections between these two networks are often poor. There is a railway route map at www.railway.gov.bd.On this page...
Dhaka-Chittagong train service
Cox's Bazaar
Calcutta (Kolkata) - Dhaka by 'Maitree Express' train Started 2008
Calcutta (Kolkata) - Dhaka by bus On other pages...
How to travel overland train travel from Europe to Dhaka
Train travel in India
Train travel in Pakistan
Dhaka - Chittagong by train...
There is a good train service between the capital city, Dhaka, and Bangladesh's second city, Chittagong. Dhaka & Chittagong are both in the eastern half of the country on the metre-gauge train network, linked by fast daytime 'InterCity' trains and two good overnight trains with sleeping-cars. The high-quality InterCity trains are very popular and often leave full, so make reservations at the station as soon as you can. Here is a timetable of the best trains which you can check at www.railway.gov.bd: Dhaka ► Chittagong
Train number: 704 4 722 702 2 742
Notes: InterCity Express InterCity InterCity Mail InterCity *
Days: daily daily not Sunday not Friday Daily daily
Dhaka depart: 07:40 08:20 15:00 16:20 22:30 23:00
Chittagong arrive: 14:30 18:45 21:45 22:15 07:20 06:15
InterCity = Fast quality train, fully air-conditioned, restaurant car, recommended. AC class seats, 1st class & 2nd class seats.
InterCity * = TURNA EXPRESS. Fast quality overnight train, with air-conditioned 2-berth sleepers, AC class seats & 1st class seats. Recommended.
Express = Slower than InterCity trains. Air-conditioned class seats, 1st & 2nd class seats.
Mail = CHITTAGONG MAIL / Dhaka MAIL. AC class 2-berth sleepers, 1st class 4-berth sleepers, 1st, 2nd, 3rd class seats.
not Sunday = daily except Sundays; not Friday = daily except Fridays. Chittagong ► Dhaka
Train number: 701 721 3 703 1 741
Notes: InterCity InterCity Express InterCity Mail InterCity *
Days: not Friday not Sunday daily daily daily daily
Chittagong depart: 07:00 07:15 10:10 15:00 22:30 23:00
Dhaka arrive: 12:45 13:55 19:40 21:35 07:25 05:55
Fares
Dhaka - Chittagong one-way fares per person, in Taka...
AC class sleeper (2-berth) AC class seat
1st class sleeper
(4-berth) 1st class seat
2nd class seat
660 (£6 or $10) 430 (£4 or $7) 455 (£4 or, $8) 290 (£3 or $5) 150 (£1 or, $2)
Children under 3 travel free, children aged 3 to 9 half fare. Children 10 and over pay the adult fare.
You can check fares at www.railway.gov.bd.
What are Bangladeshi trains like?
Trains have AC class, first class, second class. The overnight train also has 2-berth AC sleepers
International links with Bangladesh...
Calcutta ▶ Dhaka by direct train (started 14 April 2008)...
A new train service started on 14 April 2008 between Calcutta (Kolkata) and Dhaka. Called the 'Maitree (Friendship) Express', its run by the Indian Railways & Bangladeshi Railways. The distance via the somewhat round-about route is 538 km (120km in India, 418km in Bangladesh), and it's routed via the border points at Gede & Darshana. Train services from Calcutta to Dhaka were suspended following the India/Pakistan war in 1965 and this is a major step forward. Calcutta ► Dhaka Dhaka ►Calcutta
"Maitree Express" Wednesdays
Saturdays "Maitree Express"
Tuesdays
Sundays
Train number:
3108
3109
Train number:
3107
3110
0 km Calcutta (Chitpur station) depart 07:10 07:10 Dhaka (Cantonment station) depart 09:30 09:30
122 km Gede (Indian time) arr/dep 09:25 / 11:25 09:25 / 11:25 Darshana (Bangladeshi time) arr/dep 14:15 / 15:20 14:15 / 15:20
- Darshana (Bangladeshi time) 11:35 / 13:25 11:35 / 13:25 Gede (Indian time) arr/dep 14:00 / 16:00 14:00 / 16:00
540 km Dhaka (Cantonment station) arrive 19:30 19:30 Calcutta (Chitpur station) arrive 18:45 18:45
Remember that Indian time is always GMT+5½, Bangladeshi time is GMT+6 or (in summer) GMT+7. Times shown are always local time for the location concerned.
Check times locally, as sources disagree about the departure time from Dhaka southbound!
Trains 3107 & 3108 use Bangladesh Railways carriages, 3109 & 3110 use Indian railways carriages.
Which class is best? AC seats and non-AC seats are in fact identical, and similar in layout & appearance to Indian AC Chair Class. The only difference is that AC seats are air-conditioned with sealed windows, non-AC seats have opening windows. AC first class has seats in compartments with sleeping berths for lying down and more room (yes, even though it's daytime train!).
How to buy tickets: Tickets go on sale 10 days before departure, and sales close 3pm the day before departure. In Calcutta, buy tickets at the Fairlie Place reservation centre at the Foreign Tourist Reservation Counter, open 10:00-17:00 Mon-Sat, 10:00-14:00 Sundays. In Dhaka, buy tickets at Dhaka Kamalapur station ticket office. Passports & visas must be shown when booking. Only one-way tickets can be booked.
Eastbound, customs and immigration take place at Darshana just inside the Bangladeshi border. Westbound, immigration controls take place at Dhaka Cantonment station.
Daily alternative train+bus link: There are two train links from Calcutta (Sealdah station) to the India/Bangladesh frontier, one to Gede and one to Bangaon. At Gede, the Bangladesh railway station of Darsana is a 1km walk across the frontier, for trains south to Khulna or northwards, but not to Dhaka. At Bangaon, it's a short walk across the frontier to Benapol station on the Bangladeshi side for a daily train to Khulna (but again, not Dhaka). Please confirm that foreigners are permitted to cross at your chosen crossing point.
Fares
Non-AC seat AC seat AC first class
$8 $14 $23
Above: AC class 2-berth sleeper on the Dhaka-Chittagong overnight train (bedding is provided).
Above: Buying tickets at Dhaka station. Both photos courtesy of Bob Hindley...
Travellers' reports...
Traveller S.P Chattopadhyay reports: "I travelled via AC sleeper on the overnight inter-city express, and trip was comfortable and uneventful. Train arrived at platform in Chittagong "new" station about 45 minutes ahead of departure time of 11pm. Compartment was clean, but the linens looked worn. AC was working well and arrival into Dhaka was on time at 6:20 am. I was able to buy the ticket the day before departure, without any problems. I would recommend this train over intercity bus travel between the two cities which involved traffic tie-ups and harrowing over-taking/lane-changing in face of unheeding opposing traffic!"
Cox's Bazaar...
There is no train service to Cox's Bazaar (Bangladesh's prime beach resort), but you can take a train from Dhaka to Chittagong then a bus from there. Bus information not available.
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