The government is going to construct two separate railway bridges on the Jamuna River beside the Bangabandhu Bridge in between Fulchari of Gaibandha, and Bahadurabad Ghat of Sirajganj.
The bridges will be constructed under a public private partnership (PPP).
The cabinet committee on economic affairs on Wednesday gave nod to the proposal placed by the ministry of railway. Finance Minister AMA Muhith chaired the meeting held at the secretariat.
After the meeting, Muhith said: “The projects will be forwarded for further steps”.
“The railway ministry will begin complete study, estimation and other preparations. It’s a long way to go. But, the process has been begun,” he added.
Earlier, Abul Kalam Azad, acting secretary of the railway ministry, told the Dhaka Tribune that the PPP unit of the prime minister’s office prepared the proposals to construct two different railway bridges over Jamuna River. According to the proposal prepared by the railway ministry, the bridge which is proposed to be constructed parallel to the Bangabandhu Bridge would be built as dual gage and double truck bridge.
The proposal also said the Bangabandhu Bridge was constructed under the design which was prepared only for road trafficking. It was later converted for road and railway trafficking. But, restricted and light weight carrier railway coaches are allowed to traffic over the bridge. The speed of the railway coaches was also restricted to 20km per hour.
“The tentative cost of the project was estimated at US $1bn. The authority has already begun an initial study of the project. The final cost of the project will be estimated when the study will be finished,” the paper said.
Another proposal of constructing a railway bridge between Fulchari Ghat (landing station) in Gaibandha district and Bahadurabad Ghat in Sirajganj said the length of the bridge would be 11km including the approach link.
Tentative cost of the project was estimated initially to be US $2bn.
