Anil talks of the recently started India- Bangladesh train service in these words,

 “That is my country …. How near is it. Still, I can never reach there.” This was a dialogue in Ritwik Ghatak’s film “Komal Gandhar”, which captured the pain and grief of partition and his dream of reaching there remained just a dream . But on the day of poila Baisakh, Bengali New Year 1415, the Bengalis of both side of the International border got a gift to cherish and to make their dreams of “reaching there” fulfilled.

“Maitree Express” alone can not bridge the gap of the two nations created through many years unless there is heart to heart communications by way of cultural exchange and tourism. Let there be more “Bangaldesh Bharat Friendship society”, and urge for friendship with each other. The same was reflected on the first day when the passengers of Maitree Express from Bagladesh, reaching Kolkata expressed their happiness shouting “we are very happy to be here. We Bangladeshis share a common bond with you people. We especially thank you for standing by us during our war of liberation”.

Asian Window quotes Mark Dummet of the BBC saying,

It seems extraordinary that Bangladeshis and Indians have had to wait so long for this train. The two countries have officially been friends for years, and it has been possible for some time to take a bus, or a plane between the two. There was a genuine joy that sense has at last prevailed.