The long-awaited Dohazari-Cox’s Bazar rail line is expected to be opened for public by next June. Till now 80 percent of the construction work has been completed and once opened the entire country would be connected with Cox’s Bazar by rail.
Railway Minister MdNurul Islam Sujan said this to a group of journalists at the iconic station of Cox's Bazar after inspecting the new railway line construction project from Dohazari to Cox's Bazar on Thursday.
The minister said, “Once it was a dream, now it is about to come true. Not only the residents of Cox’s Bazar are waiting but also people from all over the country are waiting to come to the tourist city by train. It is expected that the work will be completed by June next year.”
“High quality tourists’ coaches will be used in this route. In this continuation, a new project has been already taken. Under this project, 54 coaches will be purchased which have wide windows. This will allow the passengers get a new experience of watching natural view,” added the minister.
When asked about the progress of the work, the minister said that about 80 percent of the work has been completed.
The minister visited the various floors of the iconic station building that is still under construction. Officials related to the project said that the construction of the station building will be completed by the month of April. The Minister later visited about 30 km of the new line by inspection car. Already about 60 km railway line has been completed.
It should be noted that a total of 100 km single line dual gauge railway is being constructed from Dohazari to Cox’s Bazar. The entire project consists of 39 major bridges and 242 culverts. Underpasses and overpasses are being constructed for the movement of elephants. Once the rail line is built, it will connect with the Trans-Asian Railway.
The tourist city of Cox’s Bazar will be brought under the railway network. Safe and comfortable, cost-effective eco-friendly communication system will be introduced for tourists. It will be possible to transport fish, salt, rubber raw materials and forest and agricultural products easily and at low cost.
During the inspection, Cox’s Bazar Member of Parliament SaimumSarwar Kamal, Bangladesh Railways Additional Director General (Infrastructure) Kamrul Ahsan, Bangladesh Railways General Manager (Eastern Region) Jahangir Hossain and project related officials were present.