DHAKA, 1 December 2020, (TON): On November 29, 2020, PM Sheikh Hasina has virtuallyannounced the base stone of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge from Ganobhaban. The railway bridge is designed above one of the well-known rivers, Jamuna of Bangladesh. The purpose of the construction is to accelerate the rail-based transportation between Dhaka and the western part of Bangladesh.

The Bangabandhu bridge will be the lengthiest rail bridge in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Railway and some consultant groups like Chodai Company Limited of Japan, Oriental Consultants Global Company Limited, Development Design Consultants Limited of Bangladesh,and ACE Consultants Limited of Bangladesh have completed the bridge’s design.

It is a 4.8 km double-line dual-gauge bridge which will consist of about 300 meters upstream and a single rail line. The entire construction process of the bridge will be finished in two packages. Two sides of the river, eastern and western will be they are covered according to the Japanese companies’ agreements ( Obayashi-TOA-JFE and IHI-SMCC JV ). The eastern and western part of the Jamuna River will be established respectively at the cost of USD 80 crore (BDT 6,801 crore) and USD 72.51 crore (BDT 6,148 crore). In July 2020, the decided land have been handed over to the assigned companies.

On the broad gauge track, trains will run at 120 kmph and 100 kmph on the metergauge track.Daily, 88 trains can be able to move through the way.

The construction scheme of the Bangabandhu Railway Bridge was approved in 2016. USD 114.80 crore (BDT 9,734 crore) was decided as the budget for the project. Now the fund has stood on about USD 200.50 crore ( BDT 17,000 crore).

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge, in association withJICA, is the major investment works under Bangladesh Railway. Bangladesh Railway has facilitated the opportunities, geographical location, large population, huge demand, connectivity to a regional network and emerging as regional transport HUB.