The Banalata Express is a Bangladeshi Intercity train (Train no. 791/792) which runs between

Chapainawabganj Chapai Nawabganj or Chapainawabganj District () is a district of Rajshahi Division. It is located in the north-western part of Bangladesh. The north and western-part of Chapainawabganj is bounded by Malda district, Malda and Murshidabad distr ...

and

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

under

Bangladesh Railway Bangladesh Railway () is the state-owned rail transport agency of Bangladesh. It operates and maintains all railways in the country, and is overseen by the Directorate General of Bangladesh Railway. The Bangladesh Railway is governed by the Mi ...

History

A new passenger train with modern facilities had started serving people to connect the Bangladeshi capital

with its northern city of

Rajshahi Rajshahi (, ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city and a major Urban area, urban, administrative, commercial and educational centre of Bangladesh. It is also the administrative seat of the eponymous Rajshahi Division, division and Rajshahi Distr ...

on 25 April 2019. After few days this train route extended up to Chapainawabganj. Now its running Chapainawabganj-Rajashahi to Dhaka. The train features modern amenities such as bio-toilets, recliner seats, Wi-Fi, and LED displays. It also saves at least 1.5 hours compared to the three existing express trains between Dhaka and Rajshahi. The train leaves from

at 6:00 am and arrives Kamalapur Railway Station in Dhaka at 11:35 am. It leaves Dhaka at 1:30 pm and reaches Chapainawabganj at 7:15 pm.

Naming

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the ‘Bonolota Express,’ named after the famous Bengali poem ''Bonolota Sen'' by renowned poet

Jibanananda Das Jibanananda Das (17 February 1899 – 22 October 1954) was a Bengali poet, writer, novelist and essayist in the Bengali language. Popularly called "Rupashi Banglar Kabi'' ('Poet of Beautiful Bengal'), Das is the most read Bengali poet after Rab ...

Route

Banalata Express is a non-stop train from Chapainawabganj to Dhaka. It stops at four stations. Those are: *

Kamalapur Railway Station Kamalapur Railway Station, officially Dhaka Railway Station, is the central railway station in Kamalapur, Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh. It is the largest station and the busiest infrastructure for transportation in the country that acts as a g ...

Airport railway station, Dhaka Airport railway station or Biman Bandar railway station is a railway station in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Situated opposite to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, it can be accessed from the Airport Road. Overview It is the second ...

Rajshahi Railway Station Rajshahi Railway Station is a railway station at Rajshahi, Bangladesh. The railway station is the main station of the city, and links to Dhaka via the Iswardi–Sirajganj line. The station is one of the most modern, largest and important station ...

* Chapainawabganj railway station

Train schedule

Coach composition

The 928-seat high-speed train with 12 coaches includes two air-conditioned cars and seven non-air conditioned cars are running on the route without any stoppage between Dhaka and Rajshahi. It has two engines, imported from India in 2013, and 12 coaches, imported from Indonesia in the late 2010s. It was taken to Rajshahi from Ishwardi junction on April 23, 2019. Bangladesh Railways procured 50 high-speed and modern coaches from Indonesia for new trains on different routes, including the Rajshahi–Dhaka route.

References