Calcutta, July 24: The railways have decided to alter the schedule of the Maitree Express and speed up the Calcutta-Dhaka-Calcutta journey in a bid to attract passengers to the train that runs empty now.

It will leave Calcutta’s Chitpur on Wednesdays and Saturdays and Dhaka Cantonment on Tuesdays and Sundays, officials said in Delhi today. From both sides, the trains now leave on Saturdays and Sundays.

The Calcutta-Dhaka journey will be shorter by 90 minutes from the 11 hours and 50 minutes it now takes. The return will take 10 hours and 45 minutes. The new schedules will be implemented from August 1.