The train service from Dhaka to Bhanga through the Padma Bridge will be opened in June next year, said Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan on Sunday.
After the inauguration of the bridge next month, the work of installing the railway tracks on the bridge will start from July, said the minister while inspecting the progress of construction work of Mawa railway station under the Padma Bridge project at Mawa end of Louhajong upazila in Munshiganj.
There were plans to open the Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga rail service on the day of the opening of the Padma Bridge, but it was not possible to work on the upper part of the bridge as the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project Authority did not get the permission due to technical reasons, he said.
He said the progress of the 39km railway from Dhaka to Mawa is about 60.4% while the progress of the 42km railway from Mawa to Bhanga is 78% and Bhanga to Jessore is 49.5%.
The overall progress of the railway bridge from Dhaka to Jashore is 57.50% and the total 172km ailway project from Dhaka to Jessore will be completed in 2024, he added.
The rail line of the Padma Bridge project is about 169km from Dhaka to Jessore.
The cost of this project has been estimated at around Tk40,000 crore. The government of Bangladesh will finance about Tk18,000 crore and the Chinese government will provide the rest of the money.
On May 11, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said the much-hyped Padma Bridge will be inaugurated in June and preparations are going on for its opening.
The minister said the work progress of the main bridge is 98% while river training is 92% and the progress of carpeting work is 91%.
The total work progress of the project is 93.5%, he said.
Padma Bridge
The project, one of the country’s largest structures, was first approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) with an estimated cost of Tk10,161 crore in 2007.
Following irreconcilable differences with the World Bank arising out of the issue of financing in 2012, the government decided to go for it alone.
The second revision of the project was approved by Ecnec on January 5, 2016, with an estimated cost of Tk28,794 crore to be implemented by 2018. Without changing the project proposal, the costs were increased again to Tk30,193 crore In June 2018.
Rail Link
On October 14 last year, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opened the construction work on a rail link between Dhaka and Jessore under the “Padma Bridge Rail Link Construction Project.”
The first phase of the “Padma Bridge Rail Link Construction Project” will establish a rail link between Mawa and Bhanga via Janjira and Shibchar through the Padma Multipurpose Bridge.
This will connect Dhaka, Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Shariatpur, Madaripur, Faridpur, Gopalganj, Narail and Jessore.
China Railway Group Limited, a Chinese government-nominated contractor, is implementing the project under the China G2G system.
