Dhaka-Narayanganj route: No rail operations for 3 months
Suspension to help Padma Bridge Rail Link Project work
"We are forced to suspend the operation for the [Padma Bridge Rail Link Project] works. We have no other alternative."
Bangladesh Railway will be suspending rail operations between Dhaka and Narayanganj for three months, starting from December 4, to facilitate the work of the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project (PBRLP).
BR took the decision after the project authorities sent them a proposal asking train operations on the route to be halted from December to February.
"Rail operations on this route will remain suspended for three months," BR's Director General Dhirendra Nath Mazumder told The Daily Star yesterday.
The authorities concerned will inform people about the decision through advertisements on national dailies soon, a BR official said.
Currently, BR operates nine pairs of trains -- eight pairs of local trains and one of Demu trains -- between Dhaka and Narayanganj daily and several thousand people avail themselves of the services.
Passengers could reach Narayanganj from Dhaka within 45 minutes at a fare of only Tk 15.
On the other hand, it takes almost an hour to reach Narayanganj by bus at a Tk 55 fare.
BR used to operate 16 pairs of trains on Dhaka-Narayanganj route daily but the number was cut to nine after the Covid-19 pandemic, sources said.
Many people from Narayanganj use trains to reach Dhaka for official purposes in the morning and go back in the evening, and the suspension of the operations for three months may cause problems for them.
About this, Dhirendra Nath said, "We are forced to suspend the operations for the [PBRLP] works. We have no other alternative."
However, a BR official, preferring anonymity, said they may write to Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) to increase the number of buses on Dhaka-Narayanganj route to cater to an additional pressure of passengers.
The PBRLP, the railway's biggest project, is being implemented to build a 169-km rail line from Dhaka to Jashore through the Padma Bridge at a cost of Tk 39,247 crore.
The government approved the project in March 2016, and it was supposed to be completed by this June.
However, the project's physical work started in July 2018, mainly due to the delay in signing the loan contract with Chinese Exim Bank.
In the meantime, the project's cost increased to Tk 39,246 crore, and the deadline was extended to June 2024.
BR had planned to launch train and road operations simultaneously when the Padma Brigde opens, at least on the Mawa-Bhanga section, but later changed the decision as the bridge authority did not hand over the bridge to the BR in due time for "technical reasons".
The Padma Bridge was open to the public this June.
Railways Minster Nurul Islam Sujan in August this year inaugurated the installation of a rail track on the lower deck of Padma Bridge and hoped to start rail operations on Dhaka-Bhanga section via the bridge by next June.
Project Director Afzal Hossain said they will build three dual gauge lines from the capital's Kamalapur to Gendaria, and to lay the lines, the train operations on Dhaka-Narayanganj route need to be suspended.
He said apart from the rail lines, they will also build an underpass at Tilpapara in the capital, and operations need to be suspended for that as well.