The Ministry of Railways has proposed building an 81-kilometre elevated rail line from Shyampur in Dhaka to Comilla to serve as an alternative route, which could reduce the rail distance between Dhaka and Chittagong by 80km and cut travel time by 1.5 to two hours.
Information and Broadcasting Adviser Zahed Ur Rahman disclosed the plan at a regular press briefing at the Secretariat on Tuesday to update the media on the government's activities. The information was also provided to journalists in a written statement.
He said the project's preliminary estimated cost stands at Tk83,901 crore. Construction is expected to take four years after land acquisition is completed.
However, he said the final decision on whether the entire line will be elevated will be made at the highest level of the government. The railway ministry has initially proposed an entirely elevated route, with the proposal submitted to the ministry on October 5.
The adviser said building the entire line on elevated structures would save around 322 acres of land. A combination of embankments and elevated structures would cost approximately Tk73,577 crore, while opting for a fully elevated line would add around Tk10,324 crore to the cost.
According to details presented at the briefing, the proposed line would support electric train operations in the future. The double-track broad-gauge railway would be designed to carry an axle load of 25 tons.
The line would have a maximum design speed of 160km per hour, while its maximum operating speed would be 140km per hour.