Construction work for laying railway tracks to connect Agartala with Akhaura in Bangladesh is likely to commence by January 2015.
For the 15.054 km rail line, the Ministry of Railways, Bangladesh, will work in collaboration with IRCON, a central PSU of the Indian government. The rail tracks will not be built in Meter Gauge, but in Broad-Gauge format so that it can be easily converted. The government of India has allotted Rs 252 crore initially for the project.
At present, work on land acquisition is nearing completion. Some parts of the land are public and some are private. IRCON and the Ministry of Railways, Bangladesh, are working out the issue of ensuring the least disturbing alignment. The Detailed Project Proforma (DPP) will be submitted by September 2014.