Government seals Bangbandhu Railway Bridge consultancy deal

The government has signed a consultancy deal with a Japanese company for the construction of a railway bridge over the Jamuna River, next to the Bangbandhu Bridge. Oriental Consultants Global Co Ltd, Japan, in a joint venture with Chodai Co Ltd, Japan and Development Design Consultants Ltd, Bangladesh and in association with ACE Consultants Ltd, Bangladesh, has finalised the deal worth Tk747.58 crore at Rail Bhaban in Dhaka on Thursday. The 4.8km bridge will be built some 300m upstream of the existing Bangabandhu Bridge. Though a rail bridge currently exists on the Bangabandhu Bridge, it is not suitable for movement of freight trains. Even passenger trains have to maintain a speed of 10 kilometres per hour. The government planned to eradicate this issue by constructing a dual gauge double-track rail bridge next to the Bangabandhu Bridge. Ecnec approved the proposal for this separate railway bridge in December last year. Initially, in 2014, railway authorities had planned that the bridge would be completed with a cost of Tk5,830 crore. When the detailed project plan was completed in 2015, the cost increased to Tk8,200 crore. Since 2014, the cost has almost doubled during the preparation process and the total cost of the project now stands at around Tk9,734 crore. As per an agreement signed on June 30, 2016, Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) will finance Tk7,724 crore of the total cost. Speaking to reporters after the signing ceremony, Rail Minister Mujibul Haque said: “The project is very important for trade. This railway bridge will now allow us to handle freight trading by creating an easy connection with the northern part of the country.” The rail minister also said the main construction of the bridge would begin soon. The construction of the dual gauge double-track bridge is expected to be completed by 2023.