DHAKA: Bangladesh Railway (BR) has taken a decision to increase the frequency of trips of ‘Maitree Express’ as it had made a profit of Tk four crore from the international passenger train service that connected Dhaka and Indian city of Kolkata.

Currently, BR has been conducting two trips of Maitree Express in a week.

It is expected that the third trip would be started on any Sunday of December.

The third ‘Maitree Express’ will have seven compartments and carry 286 passengers unlike the other two services that have six compartments and can carry 210 passengers each.

Sources said the inclusion will raise the annual income of BR to Tk six crore.

They further said Bangladesh receives 75 percent of the income from the train while India gets 25 percent basing on the distance of route between the two countries.

Recently, initiatives have been taken to increase the frequency of ‘Maitree Express’ to six days a week from present two days to tackle the flow of passengers.

The implementation date is, though, uncertain, sources added.

BDST: 1323 HRS, NOV 08, 2014