HSIA to Airport Station: Govt plans ‘underpass’ for travellers

Upon arrival at the Dhaka airport, one has to take the trouble of crossing the busy airport road if he or she wants to catch a train or a bus.

Though there is a footbridge nearby, it often proves to be quite troublesome for those carrying heavy luggage to use it to reach the nearby bus stop or the Airport Railway Station. 

 To ease the passengers' hassles, the government now plans to build an "integrated underpass" to connect the airport with the railway station and other modes of transport, including the metro rail and the bus rapid transit.

Moreover, the underpass will be linked to the Hajj camp in capital's Ashkona area so that pilgrims can reach the airport without any trouble.

Apart from a footpath, the underpass will have a travelator, a moving walkway.

Bangladesh Army is now carrying out a feasibility study and working on the design for the project to be implemented by the Roads and Highways Department (RHD).

Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA), which is coordinating the plan, yesterday held a meeting with all stakeholders concerned at the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) headquarters.

The meeting was attended by representatives from the army; Road Transport and Highways Division; the CAAB; the RHD; Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd (DMTCL) which is implementing the metro rail projects; Bangladesh Railway; and Dhaka Bus Rapid Transit Company Ltd. They also made a field visit.

"We convened the meeting for better integration of different stakeholders concerned," DTCA Executive Director Neelima Akhter told The Daily Star.

"The underpass will be built for better connectivity between the airport, the airport railway station and the hajj camp," she said, adding that the air passengers will be able to easily access the bus rapid transit and the metro rail. 

Various government agencies are implementing a number of projects near the airport.

The DMTCL will build the country's first underground railway from the airport to Kamalapur, while a dedicated bus corridor is being developed from the airport to Gazipur.

Besides, Bangladesh Bridge Authority is building two elevated expressways -- one from the airport to Kutubkhali on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway and the other from the airport to Dhaka EPZ on the Nabinagar-Chandra Highway.

The CAAB is constructing a third terminal for the Dhaka airport.

Transport experts put emphasis on better integrity of all these projects to reap the maximum benefit.

Mohammed Shamim Al Mamun, executive engineer of the RHD's Dhaka Division, said the underpass will connect all three terminals at the airport with the railway station and the hajj camp.

The army is now carrying out a feasibility study and working on the alignment of the underpass, the hajj camp and the airport railway station.

The study is expected to be completed by two-three months. Then, the RHD will take up an investment project to build the underpass, he told this newspaper yesterday.

Replying to another question, he said it was not possible to tell the possible cost of the project at this moment.