The 42-km Bhanga-Mawa train service, over Padma Bridge, is set to open on a trial basis in mid-March, officials said on Thursday.
Padma Bridge Rail Link Project Engineer Zahirul Haque said that five and a half kilometers of stone-free railway track has already been completed at the Mawa and Jazira ends of Padma Bridge.
There are a total of eight bridge joint movements in the bridge. Seven of them have already been completed. The work of the remaining one will be completed by March 15. Initially, the train will be ready for operation on 42 km section from Bhanga in Faridpur to Mawa station in Munshiganj.
Project Engineer also said that the progress of the entire Padma Bridge Rail Link project is 73 percent. Meanwhile, for the first time in the country, a stone-free railway has been constructed at Padma Bridge. Although the cost is high, the repair cost is not much and there will be no disruption to the railway.
Lokman Hossain, the assistant engineer of the project said that it should be noted that under the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project, the construction of 172 km railway from Dhaka to Jessore is underway. Padma Bridge Rail Link project work is divided into three parts. These are, Dhaka to Mawa, Mawa to Faridpur via Padma Bridge and Bhanga to Jessore. China Railway Engineering Company (CREC) is the contractor of this project worth around 40 thousand crore taka.
Engineer Zahirul Haque also mentioned that Padma Bridge Rail Link Project will be inaugurated on next June. All but a small portion of the bridge has been completed.
Hopefully, within the next two weeks, all the works of laying the railway line on the bridge will be completed and experimental train will run through the Padma Bridge in March before inauguration.