Construction work of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge, which will be parallel to the existing Bangabandhu Multi-purpose Bridge over Jamuna River, is likely to start by December this year. The ministry of railways wants to start the construction work of the project as soon as possible as it has already completed necessary tasks such as feasibility study, survey and appointment of consultant.
The works of technical evaluation, financial evaluation and land acquisition have also already been done. Director of the project Quamrul Hasan told Bangladesh Post that contractor for starting the main construction work of the project will be appointed soon. “We hope that the construction work will be started by December this year,” the project director said.
The rail bridge over the Jamuna river, a dream project of the government, will run parallel to the existing Bangabandhu Multi-purpose Bridge. The rail bridge will be constructed with steel, he said. The construction of the 4.8km dual-gauge double-track bridge is scheduled to be completed by 2022. And one more year will be needed for competing defect liability study before full run of the bridge.
The project would be implemented with the joint financing of the government and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The government and JICA will provide Tk 2009.7450 crore and Tk 7724.3250 crore respectively to finance the project. The railway ministry will implement the project. The government plans to run gas transmission and optical fiber lines along the bridge and approach embankment, a project paper said.
It has taken up the project aiming to improve capacity and safety of railway transportation within its own territory and neighboring countries, which will help reduce travel time. Although a rail bridge currently exists alongside the Bangabandhu Bridge, it is not suitable for movement of freight. Even passenger trains have to maintain a speed of 10 kilometres per hour.
“It will also help improve mobility of passengers and goods across the country… This railway bridge will also open windows for regional and international freight (container) traffic---Trans-Asian railway network”, the project paper said. The project was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on December 6, 2016.
