Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the construction work of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge on Nov 29.
The construction of the 4.8km-long bridge over the River Jamuna is expected to finish in four years.
Railway Minister Mohammad Nurul Islam Khokon disclosed this at a press conference at Rail Bhaban in the capital on Thursday.
“The dedicated dual-gauge double-track railway bridge will bring an epoch-making change in railway services for establishing connectivity with the country’s northern and northeastern part”, he said.
A total of 38 trains which now run over the existing rail-cum-road bridge over the River Jamuna will be able to operate speedily and smoothly after the completion of the bridge, he added.
The minister also said that the bridge will play a significant role in increasing the number of train services, adding that the completion of the railway track extension from Joydevpur to Ishwardi will help in this regard.
Bangladesh Railway (BR) took an initiative to construct a dedicated railway bridge some 300 metres upstream of the exixting Bangabandhu Multipurpose Bridge as it developed cracks.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) first approved the bridge project in 2016. The project cost was revised to Tk 97.34 billion in 2018.
The project cost, however, recently hiked to Tk 167.81 billion due to increased cost of land acquisition, land lease and addition of other elements.
Of the total project cost, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will bear 72 per cent by providing a loan of Tk 121.4 billion. The government will finance the rest of the amount.
The tenure of the project was extended from December 2023 to August 2025.
