The main line of Eastern Bengal Railway from Sealdah to Siliguri via Ranaghat, Darshana, Santahar, Parbatipur and Haldibari was built in 1878.

Almost three-fourths of the town of Hili along with the railway station fell inside East Pakistan.

[3] The partitioned West Dinajpur district in India had only one connection from Barsoi to Radhikapur near the border.

[4] The line from Balurghat has been proposed to be extended right up to Hili town on the Indian side of the Indo-Bangladesh border.

[5][6] The electrification of this route was started in 2018 and now functioning with 25 kV AC from May 2023.