Dhaka’s rail link with northern, south-western dists restored

Rail link of Dhaka with northern and south-western districts was restored this afternoon, a day after its suspension as floodwater damaged a rail bridge in Kalihati upazila of Tangail.

“The rail link was restored around 3:50pm,” said Sayedur Rahman, assistant director of Bangladesh Railway.

Meanwhile, Dhaka-bound Rangpur Express, which was stuck at the east-end of Bangabandhu Multipurpose Bridge since yesterday, passed the repaired rail track in Tangail around 5:25pm, reports our Tangail correspondent. 

The ongoing flood washed away soil beneath a rail bridge in Kalihati yesterday, snapping Dhaka’s rail link to the northern and southern Bangladesh, as well as to Kolkata, India.

A ballast train was trial-run on the repaired rail link in Tangail in the afternoon on Monday, August 21, 2017. Photo: STAR

A task force of around 300, including two units of fire service, worked relentlessly since yesterday and by this morning the majority work was done, Ramjan Ali said.

The onrush of floodwaters washed away around 30-foot stretch beneath the southern approach to the rail bridge No 98 on the Pungli, a tributary of the Jamuna, leaving only some rails and wooden sleepers and creating a 20-foot-deep crater.

Work in progress to restore the railway tracks in Kalihati of Tangail in the morning of Monday, August 21, 2017. Photo: STAR

The incident occurred sometime after Sundarban Express, a Dhaka-bound intercity train from Khulna, crossed the bridge around 5:00am yesterday, witnesses said.