Bangladesh Railway (BR) is going to get a big boost as the Jamuna Railway Bridge over the Jamuna River is likely to be opened for traffic by two to three months. The 4.8km long bridge is now fully visible as installation of all 49 spans were completed.
The construction of the railway bridge is nearing completion and the authorities concerned are getting preparations to inaugurate it in January 2025. Work on the Tangail side of the bridge is fully complete, while the Sirajganj side is nearing completion.
Although it was earlier said that the railway bridge will be inaugurated in December, the project sources now claimed that the construction work will not be completed in the time due to some complications.
The project sources, however, said that it is not possible to introduce Computer Based Interlink System (CBIS) from the beginning.
As a result, getting full speed that means 120 km speed on the bridge in the beginning remains uncertain.
The CBIS cannot be started from the beginning at the stations on both sides of the bridge due to complications in import of technology products from India by the contractor and dilly-dally of the contracting companies. As a result, the speed of the train will be very low during this time. Sources said that it will be possible to launch CBIS by Marh next year.
Project Director Al Fattah Md Masudur Rahman said that there is a plan to run trains at a speed of 120 km per hour through the new railway bridge. However, only 40-42 per cent progress has been made in the work of CBIS. It may take another two to three months. “We have carried out a trial run on the tack already. We are hoping that it can be inaugurated in the first week of January next year,” he added.
The railway bridge is expected to accommodate up to 88 trains daily at speeds of 120 km per hour. As a result, it will cut the journey time on the route by 20 minutes.
According to the Bangladesh Railway (BR), a total of 30.73 km railway line including more than 7.5 km railway approach embankment and loops, sidings are being constructed for the 5 km long railway bridge under parallel construction 300 meters north of the bridge.
According to the agreement between the governments of Japan and Bangladesh, the construction work was supposed to be completed by last August. However, the project deadline has been revised and extended to December 2025.
Currently the bridge over the Jamuna River has a meter gauge rail line that can carry a maximum weight of 43.70 kilo-newtons/metre. So there is no scope to add more coaches in the train.
Besides, it is not possible to run more trains due to the limitation of one line. It takes 25 minutes to cross the nearly 5 km long bridge at a speed of only 20 km/h. Trains have to wait for a long time for signals at stations on both banks. After the inauguration of the railway bridge, the average time on this route will be saved by one hour. No need to wait for hours at the crossing either.
According to project sources, five Japanese contractors are implementing the project in two packages named WD-1 and WD-2. Under another package called WD-3, signaling system is being installed at two stations on both ends of the bridge.
Railways is taking the help of Japanese multinational industrial conglomerate Hitachi to launch CBIS. As Hitachi had a manufacturing plant in India, the Japanese contractors were importing the products from there. Contractors have recently faced some difficulties in importing products from there. The Project Director's office continued to urge the railway contractors to resolve the issue.
According to experts, if the modern automatic signaling system is not introduced, the speed of the train will decrease and there will be a shortcoming in terms of safety apart from the wastage of time. There is also a danger of entanglement from this.
Accoring to sources, as long as the old non-interlink system remains operational, the average train speed on the new bridge will be much lower. “If we increase the number of trains in this system, there will be serious schedule disruption,” said an official.
Professor of Civil Engineering Department of BUET Hadiuzzaman said that if the computer-based automatic signaling system or computer-based interlink system (CBIS) is not started, security will remain in the railways of the western region.
He also said that priority should be given to the signal system at the beginning of the implementation of the project. The main objective of the project is to increase the speed of the trains and reduce the schedule disruptions. Passengers are at risk on the railway, he added.
Director General of Railways Sardar Shahadat Ali said that it will be difficult to add new trains to the region with Dhaka. No new train capacity will be created unless the third or fourth line is commissioned. Even if the new train comes, it can be run up to Joydevpur or Tongi. It will not fully benefit, he added.
Once completed, the 4.8-kilometer-long bridge would be the largest dedicated railroad bridge in the country. It consists of a 0.05-kilometre viaduct on both sides and 7.667 kilometres of approach roads. Authorities have also attached a gas line to the rail bridge.
Initiated in November 2020, the construction of the new railway bridge is considered a crucial step towards improving the country's rail infrastructure.
Initially budgeted at Tk 9,734 crore, the cost of the bridge has since risen to Tk 16,780.96 crore following a two-year extension.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has provided a loan covering 72.40 per cent of the project cost, with the remainder financed domestically for the project that was undertaken in 2016. Two Japanese joint-venture firms are carrying out the main work of the project.
The bridge is expected to revolutionise rail connectivity between Dhaka and the northern regions, following the transformative impact of the Jamuna Bridge on road transportation since 1998.
This railway bridge is anticipated to increase passenger numbers and enhance freight transportation significantly.
The dual-gauge, double-track bridge involves the construction of 50 pillars-- 27 on the Tangail side and 23 on the Sirajganj side-- by both local and international engineers and workers.
The Jamuna Bridge, inaugurated in 1998, connected Dhaka to the northern and southwestern regions by rail. However, structural issues led to speed restrictions, causing delays and passenger inconveniences.
The railway bridge would improve the capacity of BR in operating more trains between the capital and western part of the country. It would also help reduce train delays, which are now common.
The delays in schedule of trains that travel between the capital, north-western and southwester regions mainly take due to restrictions on load and speed on the Jamuna bridge.
This problem cannot be solved until the rail bridge and the dual-gauge double lines between Joydebpur and Ishwardi are constructed. There is a single line from Joydebpur to Ishwardi. The railway operates around 40 trains on this stretch that connects Dhaka with the western region via the the Jamuna bridge a day.
Considering all these factors, the BR has taken two projects -- one for constructing the rail bridge and another for constructing a dual-gauge double line from Joydebpur to Ishwardi.
In December 2016, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council passed the railway bridge project.
