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‘Bangabandhu Rail Bridge work will end before schedule’


Published : 30 Jan 2023 09:35 PM

Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan said that the construction work of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Rail Bridge will be completed before the scheduled time. The pace at which it is operating will open to traffic ahead of the August 2024 deadline.

The Minister of Railways spoke in front of the journalists present at the eastern end while inspecting the progress of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge construction project on Monday. The minister said that 1.15 km of the 4.8 km long bridge is already visible.

Eleven spans sit on twelve pillars. East end progress is very good. Progress on the west end is a bit slow but contractors have stepped up their work. As a result, the entire project is expected to open for traffic before its scheduled time of August 2024.

In response to the questions of the journalists, he further said that the bridge is dual gauge double line. Here trains will run at a speed of 120 kmph on broad gauge and will take five minutes to cross the bridge which now takes around 40 minutes. As a result, the time will be reduced a lot. Through this bridge, communication with Trans Asian Railway will be established. As a result, train communication with neighboring countries India, Nepal, Bhutan will increase. It will be possible to run more number of trains which will increase the number of domestic trains as well as inter-country trains and direct freight trains from India.

It is to be mentioned that the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge is being constructed with JICA funding.

The bridge is scheduled to be completed by August 2024. Its total project cost is Tk 16,780 crore. As of January this year, the physical progress of the project is 55 percent.

Tangail Member of Parliament Tanveer Hasan, Additional Director of Bangladesh Railway Shahidul Islam, Project Director Al Fattah Masudur Rahman and senior officials were present during the visit.