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Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina will jointly inaugurate the Agartala-Akhaura cross-border rail link project on Wednesday.

Facts About:

• The rail line between Agartala in Tripura and Akhaura in Bangladesh would pave the way for the first train to run from the northeastern region of India to Bangladesh.
• The project is significant from an international as well as from a domestic point of view. 
• At present, the rail route from Agartala to Kolkata is around 1600 kilometres and takes about 38 hours.
• The footfall of passengers from Agartala to Kolkata is significantly very high due to the linguistic similarity between the two states.

Both states also share age-old cultural and business relations and Agartala depends on Kolkata from the medical tourism point of view as well.

• Upon operationalisation of the Agartala-Akhaura Rail link project the distance will be reduced by around 500 kilometres and the travel time will be 16 hours between Agartala and Kolkata.
• In addition, this rail link will also provide direct access between landlocked northeastern India and the Chittagong port of Bangladesh.
• The Ministry for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) has funded the railway line from Agartala to Nischintpur;

whereas the Ministry of External Affairs has funded the rail line from Nischintpur to Gangasagar which is in Bangladesh.

• The project is part of India's 'Act East Policy', which aims to promote economic cooperation and develop strategic ties with countries in the Asia-Pacific region.