Railway Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujon said railway service from Dhaka to Cox's Bazar would be launched by December this year.
"People of the country will be relieved. We will be able to go to Cox's Bazar from Dhaka by train by December this year.”
The minister said this yesterday (Tuesday) while addressing a meeting on the occasion of the 102nd birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and National Children’s Day at the seminar room of Zahir Raihan Auditorium of Jahangirnagar University.
“Direct rail link from Narayanganj to Chittagong will be established. By connecting Laksam in Comilla, the distance from Dhaka to Chittagong will be reduced by 91 kilometres," he added.
“Besides, a delegated railway bridge will be built over the Jamuna. We hope to inaugurate the Mongla rail link from Khulna by this June. We are converting the entire railway system to broad-gauge. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken the railway system further by forming a separate ministry in 2011.”
“We will be able to provide rail service from Bhanga (Faridpur) to Dhaka across Padma Bridge by December this year. Development is underway to set up a four-lane railway from Kamalapur to Tongi, a double lane line from Tongi to Joydebpur and from Joydebpur to Jamalpur.”
Acting vice-chancellor of JU Professor Nurul Alam presided over the meeting.
Pro vice-chancellor Professor Sheikh Mohammad Manjurul Haque, Treasurer Professor Rasheda Akhter, Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics Professor Ajit Kumar Majumder, president of Teachers Association Professor Layek Sajjad Endellah, among others, were present at the meeting.
Some five hundred teachers and students from different departments also joined the discussion.