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Train Review: Dhaka to Chittagong

March 27, 2018 By James Clark 2 Comments

Train Review: Dhaka to Chittagong

Dhaka and Chittagong are the two biggest cities in Bangladesh, and there are several trains a day connecting the cities. It’s a far better option than the bus, so plan ahead if you are travelling between the two.

I was originally looking for an agent to buy a ticket for me but my hotel was of little assistance, and I didn’t see any travel agents in my wanders. You can buy tickets online if you have a local mobile phone number. I had opted not to get a sim card as I wanted to go offline for a while. If I had known about this I would have got a sim card.

Kamalapur Railway Station

I went old-school and lined up for a ticket myself. I went two days before as I read the train sells out in advance. I waited 45 minutes in the queue to get a ticket. The ticket agent didn’t speak English but I had the train number and date of travel written down in anticipation. The daily train details are written on a big board in the ticket hall.

Queue for train tickets

My ticket was 656 Bangladeshi Taka ($7.94 USD). I got the Mohanagar Provati (inter city) [704] which had the most civilised travel hours. It departs at 7.45am and arrives at 1.50pm, making it a (supposedly) 6 hour 5 minute trip.

Ticket

I arrived early to get something to eat and make sure my I got the right train.

Rickshaws

One thing I didn’t count on was that the platform information had the train numbers in Bengali numerals. I didn’t even know that was a thing, so I stood at the platform entrance trying to decipher which train was mine.

Train station foyer

As it turns out I was the only foreigner at the station so I was standing out like a sore thumb. A young man saw me looking lost and came to my assistance. He had studied in Australia so he was just as pleased to see me as I was of him. He walked me to my train and found the right carriage.

Dhaka to Chittagong train

The train departed on time so that was a good start. Travelling through the urban heart of Dhaka is a sight in itself, with markets and slums built right up along the train line.

Once the train had got out of Dhaka a man came through serving breakfast boxes. I wasn’t sure if this was part of the ticket (as it is on some trains in India and Thailand). I took a box anyway just to see.

Breakfast boxes

The box had a fried skinny chicken leg, a Bengali spiced vegetable cake, and two pieces of plain white bread.

Breakfast

A tea and coffee service also comes through, which is an amazing sight to watch as the drinks are served in crockery.

Coffee service

The breakfast was 90 BDT ($1.09 USD) and the coffee 20 BDT ($0.24 USD).

Coffee time

The good news is that there is a western toilet available. The bad news is that the floor was sloshing with bog water.

Western toilet

The seats were comfortable and the cabin temperature was just right. I was comfortable in jeans and t-shirt .

The train was about an hour later by the time it got to Chittagong. I was expecting a delay so overall I was pleased to be able to take this instead of a bus.

Chittagong station

Read more train reviews in the train travel section.

Filed Under: Train Travel Tagged With: bangladesh, chittagong, dhaka, train

About James Clark

James Clark is the founder of Nomadic Notes. He has been a digital nomad since 2003, and Nomadic Notes features trip reports, train travel articles, and where to stay guides. He writes about transport and urban development at Future Southeast Asia. Subscribe to the weekly travel newsletter.

Comments

  1. Ronnie says

    March 29, 2018 at 10:39 am

    Informational! I didn’t know that a train journey in Dhaka can actually be this smooth.

    Reply
  2. Annmarie says

    July 6, 2024 at 9:08 pm

    Bangladesh is on my travel bucket list, so really helpful info. I had heard train travel was a bit of a nightmare in this country, so really pleased to read otherwise as trains are my favourite form of travel.

    Reply

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James Clark from Nomadic Notes

Hi, I’m James Clark, and I've been travelling the world since 2003 while running a location independent travel business. Nomadic Notes is a travel blog featuring travel guides and notes from my travels.

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