Huge crowds of cheering people lined the railway tracks on the border between India and Bangladesh on Monday as passenger train services between Kolkata and Dhaka resumed after a gap of more than 40 years. The service was suspended after a 1965 war between India and Pakistan, when Bangladesh was a part of Pakistan, and the reopening caps years of negotiations on restoring links between the two parts of Bengal. A train carrying 65 passengers rolled from India into Bangladeshi territory through the Darshana border post, about 320 kilometres (198 miles) west of the capital Dhaka, at about 12:25 pm (0625 GMT), an AFP reporter said. At least 10,000 people braved hot and humid weather to "welcome the passengers with flower petals and bouquets as they arrived," Bangladesh Railways chief commercial manager Abdul Haq said. Passengers said they were overwhelmed by the event, which coincides with the first day of the Bengali New Year.
