Dhaka Bureau: Bangladesh is on the way to fulfilling another dream. The broken-down experimental train crossing the Padma Bridge has started. The experimental special train started from Bhanga in Faridpur at noon on Tuesday (April 4).
Brigadier General Saeed Ahmed, Manager of the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project, said that at noon, Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan started the journey of the experimental train from Banga station in Faridpur. He will give the details to the journalists after the discussion with those concerned with the railway connection project at Mawa in Munshiganj.
He said that trains will run directly from Dhaka to Bhanga by railway in September. However, next year the train will run on the Dhaka-Jesore railway. I am checking the 41 and a half-kilometer railway track from Bhanga to Mawa with Gankar. Although the design speed of this route is 120 km, the test run is being conducted at 30–40 km.
He said that the launch of the Padma Bridge railway will increase the GDP by one percent more. This line will be connected to the Trans-Asian Railway.
China Railway Engineering Company (CREC) is the contractor for the Padma Bridge Rail Link project. And the whole project is supervised by the CSC Bangladesh Army.
Afzal Hossain, the project director of the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project, said that railway minister Nurul Islam Sujan is inspecting the entire work of the project, including the constructed railway, by traveling in a tank train on an experimental basis. We will transport various products of the project through this railroad before it is fully operational.
Incidentally, the progress of work on the 40-kilometer section from Dhaka to Mawa is 75 percent. And from Mawa, the progress of broken parts is 92 percent. The progress of the whole project is at 75 percent. The major challenge of the 169-kilometer broad gauge rail link project from Jessore to Dhaka was the construction of a stone-free railway track at the Padma Bridge. And with the smooth completion of that railway, a new dimension has been added to the modern railway network of the country. The cost of the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project has been estimated at around 39,246 crores and 80 lakhs. China Railway Group Limited (CREC) is working as the contractor for the project.
