Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.

My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.

As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.

What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,

poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.

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Hello, thank you for downloading this edition of the Witness History Podcast from the BBC World Service.

First-hand accounts of events that have shaped our world. I'm Frahana Hiver,

and today we're going back to 2008 when a passenger train service between

Bangladesh and India was restarted for the first time in over 40 years. The route had been suspended in 1965 following a war between India and Pakistan, of which Bangladesh was then apart.

I've been speaking to Dr. Azad Jotri, who was on board the Moitree Express or the Friendship Express,

for the inaugural train journey from Dhaka in Bangladesh to Kolkata in India. three train journey was an excellent experience. I felt very emotional and nostalgic. It was

like going back in time to when the two Bengals were one.

Bangladesh and India's Bengal state were for centuries two halves of a united Bengal with

Golkata as its main city. The people on both sides of the border speak the

same language, share strong cultural ties and lead

their lives in very similar ways. They were divided along religious lines when

India, then under British rule, was partitioned in 1947.

This is Richard Sharp calling radio newsre.

From a street corner in Calcutta where there's a fight going on.

The road is strewn with papers which have been pushed out.

There goes some shots.

...