The government has been looking for partners to construct a separate rail bridge over Jamuna River capable of withstanding the heavy weight of cross boundary cargo to and from Dhaka and Chittagong port.
Railway officials say that unless the bridge is constructed, Bangladesh will not be able to harness the full potential of the planned Trans-Asian Railway network and regional rail-connectivity with India, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.
The Bridges Division has enforced a ban on container trains, with uniformity distribution load (UDL) above 43.7-kilo newton, running on the Bangabandhu Bridge that connects the northwestern districts with Dhaka and Chittagong. Southwestern districts also rely on the 4.8km multipurpose bridge.
“We need a dedicated rail bridge over the Jamuna. Otherwise we cannot utilise our strategic position in the regional trade. So we have been looking for funding agencies to build another bridge alongside the Bangabandhu Bridge,” Bangladesh Railway Director General Abu Taher told the Dhaka Tribune.
The official added that they have already sent a proposal to the planning commission for its approval. “The project can even be implemented with PPP [Public-Private Partnership].”
Former chief operating superintendent for railway’s west zone, Abdul Wahab, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Indian wagons and Bangladesh Railway wagons may have higher UDL and are restricted along with special wagons for heavy axle loads.”
Along with the maximum load impediment, the bridge authority also nearly halved the speed limit for trains to 20kmph after cracks developed on parts of the bridge around 2008. The slow speed allows only two trains to cross in an hour.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh and India have agreed to implement the Akhaura-Agartala railway link that would invite more cargo from the mainland of India to be unloaded at Chittagong port and carried by rail through Bangladesh to Agartala, the commercial hub of the land-bound seven sister states.
The Trans-Asian Railway network, of which the Akhaura-Agartala link is a part, will ultimately reach Europe, increasing rail traffic many fold. More cargo trains would use the route across Jamuna if Nepal and Bhutal also uses Bangladesh’s seaport for their exports and imports.
A rail official said, “At present rate, we can accommodate passage of maximum 48 trains across the Bangabandhu bridge in a day. Is it viable for us to accommodate heavy and cross-boundary trains without a separate bridge?”
“Considering the overall traffic potentials, the number of goods train traffic will increase many folds in the near future. The railway will be more important in the context of ongoing initiatives for regional rail connectivity through Trans-Asian Railway and settlement of the transit issue with India, Nepal and Bhutan,” said Abdul Wahab, who carried out a study on this issue.
Railway officials involved with the trans-boundary train movement told the Dhaka Tribune the Indian automobile exporters to Bangladesh first dispatch their consignment from Mumbai to Singapore. Then it comes to the Chittagong port, taking at least three months extra.
“But motorcycles and automobiles can easily be carried from the Kolkata to Dhaka in a day, reducing the cost of the products,” said a railway official stressing for the separate rail bridge.
In 2007-08, the Indian government approached Bangladesh government to fund the construction of the dedicated rail bridge to boost up trade between the countries, but the then military-led government did not agree with the proposal.
Since then no tangible measures have been taken to conclude the negotiation.
Mozzammel Haque, the general manager (project), told the Dhaka Tribune that the construction of a rail bridge beside the Bangabandhu bridge would not cost much, as the railway authorities will not have to do a river-training again, which normally costs a lot while making bridges over rivers.