Staff Reporter :
British company DP Rail will invest TK 60,000 crore to build the 240-kilometer long Dhaka-Payra rail line. The work of the project is expected to be completed by 2024.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in this regard by the Bangladesh Railway (BR) and London based DP Rail on Tuesday at the Ministry of Railways in the capital.
Under the MoU, the investment of British firm will be the biggest ever Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for Bangladesh. All activities like design, finance, operation and maintenance related to the building of the Rail line will be controlled by the company.
Railways Minister Md. Mujibul Haque,
UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy for Bangladesh Rushanara Ali, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Alison Blake and Chief Executive of DP Rail Ian Derbyshire witnessed the signing ceremony.
“The Rail line, biggest ever project in the country’s Railway sector, will play an important role in generating more revenue by facilitating transportation of goods to and from the deep-sea port,” Mujibul Haque said. Besides, he said, it would for the first time a link between the Barisal divisional headquarters and the rest of the country. Rushanara Ali, MP, said, this is a project of vital national importance to Bangladesh. She welcomed the fact that this project has been proposed as a “best of British” railway, representing a substantial export opportunity for the UK railway supply chain.
“I am looking forward to seeing the benefits that this project will bring to the people and businesses of Dhaka and Bangladesh in general,” she said. Alison Blake called the MoU a great example of British business expertise supporting the development of Bangladesh’s infrastructure and future economic development. DP Rail is working with China Railway Construction Corporation (International) Ltd as its principal Civil Engineering contractor.
The new Railway forms a vital part of the Payra Port project, which is designed to provide a new deep water port at the top end of the Bay of Bengal, capable of handling large container ships of 8,000 containers capacity or 120,000 tonnes of cargo.
DP Rail expects the freight train service to start, prospectively, in 2024 and, in the first full year of operation is projected to handle approximately two million TEU with frequent daily trains running at 100 kilometers per hour, and with volumes rising to almost four millions TEU per year by 2030. Container trains will be around one km in length. Additional trains will convey coal and other bulk products.
For the country’s readymade garment sector, the Railway will be the high capacity trading route to the sea and its customers around the world.
British company DP Rail will invest TK 60,000 crore to build the 240-kilometer long Dhaka-Payra rail line. The work of the project is expected to be completed by 2024.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in this regard by the Bangladesh Railway (BR) and London based DP Rail on Tuesday at the Ministry of Railways in the capital.
Under the MoU, the investment of British firm will be the biggest ever Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for Bangladesh. All activities like design, finance, operation and maintenance related to the building of the Rail line will be controlled by the company.
Railways Minister Md. Mujibul Haque,
UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy for Bangladesh Rushanara Ali, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Alison Blake and Chief Executive of DP Rail Ian Derbyshire witnessed the signing ceremony.
“The Rail line, biggest ever project in the country’s Railway sector, will play an important role in generating more revenue by facilitating transportation of goods to and from the deep-sea port,” Mujibul Haque said. Besides, he said, it would for the first time a link between the Barisal divisional headquarters and the rest of the country. Rushanara Ali, MP, said, this is a project of vital national importance to Bangladesh. She welcomed the fact that this project has been proposed as a “best of British” railway, representing a substantial export opportunity for the UK railway supply chain.
“I am looking forward to seeing the benefits that this project will bring to the people and businesses of Dhaka and Bangladesh in general,” she said. Alison Blake called the MoU a great example of British business expertise supporting the development of Bangladesh’s infrastructure and future economic development. DP Rail is working with China Railway Construction Corporation (International) Ltd as its principal Civil Engineering contractor.
The new Railway forms a vital part of the Payra Port project, which is designed to provide a new deep water port at the top end of the Bay of Bengal, capable of handling large container ships of 8,000 containers capacity or 120,000 tonnes of cargo.
DP Rail expects the freight train service to start, prospectively, in 2024 and, in the first full year of operation is projected to handle approximately two million TEU with frequent daily trains running at 100 kilometers per hour, and with volumes rising to almost four millions TEU per year by 2030. Container trains will be around one km in length. Additional trains will convey coal and other bulk products.
For the country’s readymade garment sector, the Railway will be the high capacity trading route to the sea and its customers around the world.
