The government is set to construct the country's second largest dual-gauge double railway line between Joydevpur and Iswardi to connect the eastern region with western and north-western areas, officials said on Tuesday.
Bangladesh Railway (BR) officials said the 162-kilometre (km) railway line will also connect Bangladesh with the Trans-Asian Railway and cross-border railway with India.
The construction work of the dual-gauge double-track line will start from early this year involving Tk 142.51 billion, said a senior BR official.
The Joydevpur-Iswardi will be the second largest dual-gauge double-track railway line in Bangladesh after Dhaka-Chattogram track.
Currently, the Joydevpur-Iswardi corridor has a 172-km dual-gauge railway line which has connected the western Bangladesh.
The railway official said the Chinese government is providing Bangladesh with its Tk 87.56 billion financial support for this project.
The remaining Tk 54.94 billion will be provided by the government from its internal sources.
"Iswardi is a key point for connecting Bangladesh's eastern region with its western and north-western districts including Khulna, Rajshahi, and Rangpur. All the trains from Dhaka cross Iswardi junction," said the BR official.
He said the state-owned railway has a plan to extend the double line from Iswardi up to border areas in Rohanpur (Chapai Nawabganj), Birol (Dinajpur) and Darshana (Meherpur) aiming to establish Trans-Asian railway line.
"We have already started the tendering process to build the Joydevpur-Iswardi double track," the official added.
According to the BR, it will construct the railway track aiming to connect it not only with Trans-Asian railway network, but also with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) railway corridors.
Another BR official said since the existing railway-track between Joydevpur and Iswardi is a single line, they cannot operate adequate trains for passengers and freights.
When the line will be the double track one by 2024, it will be possible to carry more passengers and freights on this route, he added.
"Currently, the railway line will cross the Bangabandhu Jamuna Bridge. When the dedicated railway bridge over the Jamuna river will be constructed, the rail line will connect the new bridge," the railway official said.
