PM Lays Foundation Stone of Bangabandhu Rail Bridge

On Sunday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid the foundation stone of a 4.8km dual-gauge Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge aimed at improving rail connectivity between the capital and the Western Railway Zones.

Once completed, the dedicated double-track rail bridge over the Jamuna River, which will be built some 300 meters upstream of the Bangabandhu Bridge, which has a single rail line, will be the largest dedicated rail bridge in the country.

The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban.

Bangladesh Railway, along with the consultant organisations – Oriental Consultants Global Company Limited and Chodai Company Limited of Japan and Development Design Consultants Limited of Bangladesh in association with ACE Consultants Limited of Bangladesh – has already completed a comprehensive design of the railway bridge.

The main bridge will be installed in two packages. Two separate agreements have already been concluded with Obayashi-TOA-JFE, Japan and IHI-SMCC JV, Japan for the eastern and western sections of civil works.

A joint venture between Obayashi Corporation, TOA Corporation and JFE would build the eastern part of the bridge at the cost of Tk 6,801 crore, while another joint venture between IHI and SMCC would operate on the western part, which would cost Tk 6,148 crore.

As per the agreements, land was handed over to both contractors in July this year.

The main project operations include the construction of a 4.8km long dual-gauge double-track bridge, construction of a 7.6km long double-line railway approach embankment, erection of 30.73km dual-gauge railway track, construction of 16 railway approach viaducts, minor bridges and culverts, renovation and remodelling of Bangabandhu Bridge East and Bangabandhu Bridge West stations and yards.

The new bridge will be able to run trains at a speed of 120 kmph on broad gauge line and 100 kmph on metre gauge track. With the construction of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge, 88 trains will be able to run.

The project is scheduled to be completed by 2025.

According to railway sources, 38 trains run on a single line from Joydebpur to Ishwardi, linking Dhaka with the western region via the Bangabandhu Bridge. Officials said that a maximum of 22 trains will run smoothly on this route each day.

In view of all these factors, the Bangladesh Railway has undertaken a project to build a rail bridge and a double rail connection from Joydebpur to Ishwardi.

In December 2016, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the Tk 9,734 crore project, which was scheduled to be completed within December 2023.

Of the approved cost, Tk 7724.32 crore would come from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as project assistance and Tk 2009.75 crore from Bangladesh government exchequer.

But the costs of the two key work packages saw a significant increase after the comprehensive design was completed in September 2018. In addition, the costs of the purchase of property, the lease of land and the creation of a museum were also included in the project, resulting in the overall cost of the acquisition.

Project costs have risen to Tk 16,781 crore. The cost of the project was updated on 3 March and the length of the project was extended by two years from 2023.

Of the total amount needed for the project, the Bangladesh government will provide Tk 4,631.76 crore and JICA will provide Tk 12,149.19 crore.

While visiting Tokyo on May 25-28, 2014 Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina requested Japan to fund for the project when she met Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Later, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also raised the issue when the Japanese Prime Minister visited Dhaka on September 6, 2014.