Members of recently formed technical and commercial committees comprising high railway officials from Bangladesh and India are reviewing necessary preparations regarding the service, officials concerned said.

Following two meetings between delegations of the two countries, the high officials are now negotiating the finer details. Laying of broad gauge tracks from Joydevpur to Kamalapur in Bangladesh is almost finished, sources said.

"The new broad gauge line up to Dhaka Cantonment from Joydevpur is complete. Right now trains from Shialdaha railway station can directly come to Cantonment station. But we have not decided yet whether trains will commute between Joydevpur and Shialdaha or between Cantonment and Shialdaha," said Shafiqul Alam Khan, director of public relations of Bangladesh Railway.

Policy level details are being worked out now, including accommodating the immigration and custom departments, fixing the fare, the sizes of trains and the number of passengers they will be able to carry.

According to a proposal, there will be three categories of fares of $8, $12 and $20. Bangladesh will keep 78 percent of the revenue while India will get the rest, as the distance between Shialdaha and the Bangladesh border is 120 kilometres while the length of the rail track in Bangladesh territory is 418 kilometres.

A 10-coach train with the capacity of carrying a total of 760 passengers will commute everyday. The train will start at 7:45am from Bangladesh towards India and at 7:00am from Shialdaha to Bangladesh.

"If immigration checks are conducted at the station then it will take eight hours to reach Kolkata. But if the check is conducted at the border, then it will take no less than 11 hours," said Shafiqul Alam Khan.

"But decisions are not finalised yet. If both governments agree then the decisions will be finalised at a joint meeting," Shafiqul said.

Bangladeshi crews on board a train will ride up to the border and will come back on board the train coming from India, while the Indian crews will come to the border and go back with the passengers going to India.

Meanwhile our Delhi correspondent reports quoting Indian Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Jadav that conversion of the narrow gauge tracks into broad gauge is completed in India.

"The Dhaka-Kolkata rail link will be ready by August this year," Prasad told a delegation of 35 civil service officers from Bangladesh in Delhi on Wednesday, Indian railway ministry officials said.

He also said India agreed to provide a $150 million credit line to Bangladesh to upgrade railway tracks here.

Governments of the two countries signed a deed regarding the Bangladesh-India railway link in 2001 during the regime of Awami League government. But the work stalled during BNP-Jamaat-led four-party alliance government's rule.

Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukharjee raised the issue again while visiting Dhaka after the current interim government had taken over the reins of Bangladesh, eliciting positive interest about the project from the Bangladesh government.