Habiaganj Bazar railway opened in 1928 in Sylhet district. The Habiaganj railway line operated from Habiganj district headquarters town to the Balla border via Shaistaganj junction. Coal-engined trains used to run between eight stations: Habiganj Bazar, Habiganj Court, Shaistaganj Junction, Shakir Mohammad, Chunarughat, Amuroad, Assampara, and Balla bordering Tripura. At that time, this railway was the only means of exporting tea leaves from the 13 gardens in Chunarughat upazila of Habiganj at a low cost.
After the independence of Bangladesh, the importance of the Balla train increased. The train's role at the time was to bring refugees back from India with an added diesel engine. The train used to travel twice a day from Habiganj to the border station at Balla. After the end of the refugee transportation phase, the train of BALAS became the train of smugglers. Initially, passengers protested, but the train suffered losses as they could travel without a ticket. Because of losses, train authorities suspended the renovation work.