Traveling from Bangladesh to India by train

Question

Here's a bit of background about myself

I'm an Indian national, who is in working in the US. My wife is Bengali (Indian), her grandparents were from Bangladesh.

The next time we travel back to India on vacation, we were planning to first goto Bangladesh, visit for a couple of days. Then take the train to Kolkata (West Bengal), spend a few days with my wife's family.

I wanted to know if it's possible for me to take the Maitree Express from Dhaka to Kolkata. I ask specifically because the process didn't seem too clear to me, here is the documentation that I found for the Bangladeshi side. It mentions that valid documents are needed, what those documents would be isn't mentioned.

I would ordinarily have assumed that just my Indian passport would suffice but it seems like the visa should specifically mention the mode of entering the country. Another confusion is how I would request such an endorsement whilst applying for a visa. In my case I want to enter Bangladesh by air but leave by train.

In your answers, if you can share your experiences with this trip or a similar trip where the mode of entrance is different than the exit; that would be very helpful.

Answer 1

Nikhil, I believe you can take Maitree Express from Dhaka to Kolkata and vice versa as there are train and frequent bus services available between these two cities. Alternatively you can take the flight to Dhaka and go back to Kolkata by train if you wish.

Customs officials at the Bangladesh-India border tend to be a little annoying while traveling by bus or train. Flying will be absolutely stress-free plus its very much affordable.

About the mode of entering into Bangladesh, you will need to select something like this "travel by both air and bus/train" on the Bangladeshi visa form for Indian citizens.better yet,just ask a local trusted travel agency regarding the visa details and etc. For us Bangladeshis, one tiny little mistake on the Indian visa form leads to the cancellation of visa.

Anyway, I am sure you will have a great time in Bangladesh minus the traffic congestion on the roads in Dhaka unless you are used to it. Cheers.