The 82-kilometre railway track from Dhaka to Faridpur’s Bhanga upazila via the Padma bridge is all set for railway transport.

Ahead of the grand opening – scheduled for October 10 – Bangladesh Railway is conducting a trial run on the newly built rail tracks from Kamlapur to Faridpur’s Bhanga upazila via Padma Bridge on Wednesday (September 7), said Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujon.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to inaugurate the 82-kilometre rail tracks connecting Dhaka with Faridpur’s Bhanga next month.

Also read: Padma Bridge Rail Link: 75% complete, on course for June 2024 handover

“We are moving ahead with October 10 as the tentative date for the inauguration of the train service from Dhaka to Faridpur's Bhanga via Padma Bridge. The opening date will depend on the prime minister's schedule,” the minister said.

Bangladesh Railway Director General Md Kamrul Ahsan told UNB that a plan has been devised to conduct the trial run using seven new coaches imported from China.

“There will be a new US-made locomotive (engine), a power car (WPC), an air-conditioned dining car and guard brake (WJDR), an air-conditioned sleeper car (WJC), two air-conditioned chair cars (WJCC) and a Shovon chair coach (WEC) carriage,” he said.

Earlier, Bangladesh Railway conducted a trial run from Bhanga to Mawa end of Padma Bridge on April 4 after the installation of stoneless railway line on Padma Bridge was completed.

This time, the authorities will conduct the trial on the 82-kilometer newly built broad-gauge railway line from Dhaka to Bhanga.

Railway minister, members of the parliamentary standing committee on the ministry of railways, senior railway officials and journalists from different media will be on the train during the trial run, said director Ahsan.

Also read: Padma Bridge Rail Link: Dhaka-Mawa part to open by Sept, says Rail Minister 

On October 14 last year, the prime minister opened the construction work on a rail link between Dhaka and Jashore under the ‘Padma Bridge Rail Link Construction Project.’

The railway line is being constructed in three phases (plus a 3km link being built between Dhaka and Gandaria): 37km Gandaria-Mawa section, a 42km Mawa-Bhanga section, and an 87km Bhanga Junction-Jashore section. Some 43.2km of loops, siding and Y-connections bring the total track length to 215.2km.

The entire railway project from Dhaka-Jashore is scheduled to be completed by June, 2024.

There will be 20 stations from Dhaka to Jashore, of which 14 are new and 6 are already there. The previous stations are also being modernised. Once completed, trains will be able to run at a speed of 120 to 130 kilometres.

Also read: Padma bridge rail link completed: officials

There will be no railway crossing anywhere on the Dhaka-Jessore railway line as underpasses are being constructed at each level crossing all the way from Dhaka to Jashore.

According to Afzal Hossain, project director for the Padma Bridge Rail Link, all preparations have been made in order to inaugurate the railway connectivity from Dhaka to Bhanga.

“There were some unfinished work of railway turn-outs (the transition from one railway line to another) at Gandaria and Keraniganj stations which were also completed by August 25,” he said.

The distance from Dhaka to Bhanga is about 82 kilometres. The new railway line from Gandaria in Dhaka has been added to the Padma Bridge via Keraniganj.

Trains will be able to run from Kamalapur to Bhanga via Gandaria along the Dhaka-Narayanganj railway line. 

Under the project, 100 modern passenger coaches have already been purchased. New trains will be introduced by decorating the rakes with them.

Of the entire project titled “Padma Bridge Rail Link Construction Project”, 85 percent have been completed. The railway authorities aim to open the Dhaka-Jessore route by June 2024.

The Padma Bridge rail link project was approved on May 3, 2016. At that time, its construction cost was estimated to be around Tk 34,989 crore. When the project proposal was amended on May 22, 2018, the cost increased to Tk 39,247 crore. The cost may increase further, according to concerned authorities.

The Padma Bridge rail link project is being constructed with Chinese funding, on the basis of G2G (government to government). Chinese contractor China Railway Engineering Group (CREC) is working on the project. China's Exim Bank is providing a loan of $ 266.79 crore to implement the project.

The rest of the cost is being managed by the government of Bangladesh.