Trial Train Starts Plying At Full Speed On Jamuna Rail Bridge

A full-speed trial train has started operating on the country’s largest railway bridge built over the Jamuna River, and it will continue until tomorrow. 

Al Fattah Masudur Rahman, project director of the railway bridge, confirmed this on Sunday (January 5) morning.

During the trial train operation, a train left the eastern part of the Bhuiyanpur section at 8:30 am and went to the western part of Sirajganj. From the Sirajganj section, another train with an engine compartment started its journey towards the western part.

Earlier on November 26, trains were experimentally running over the railway bridge at a maximum speed of 40 kmph. On Sunday, trains were experimentally running at full speed. 

The railway bridge is likely to be inaugurated in the middle or end of next month (February).

According to project sources, the construction of the bridge began in August 2020 at a cost of 9,734.7 crore. Later, the cost increased to Tk 16,780.96 crore. Of which Tk 12,149.2 crore was provided as a loan by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The original deadline for this project was July 2016 to December 2023. However, in the first amendment, this deadline was moved to December 2024. 

Earlier on 6 December 2016, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the project. Then, on November 26, the first train ran experimentally over the railway bridge at a maximum speed of 40 kmph.