Anisul Islam Noor :In an effort to expand rail connectivity in the country’s southwestern region, the government is planning to set up a new 166.33-km long railway line from Dhaka to Jessore through the Padma River.The project will be implemented with the technical and financial assistance of Chinese government, said Railway Minister Md Mujibul Haque.The minister talked with media after visiting the project area at Gandaria in Dhaka. The construction work of 166.33 km long rail line from Gandaria to Bhanga of Faridpur will be started from January 2016. Meanwhile a Chinese farm completed feasibilitystudy and design of the project implementation in two phases-first from Dhaka to Bhanga and then from Bhanga to Jessore. Estimated project cost is around Tk17041 crore to be funded by the Chinese government. Besides the rail line, four big rail bridges on Buriganga, Sitalakkhya and other two rivers, 56 small bridges, 40 underpasses and three flyovers will be constructed, said Sagar Krisna, the Project Director. According to official, the expansion in rail infrastructure will support the country’s long-term development agenda and this railway network will meet the demand of the time in the southwestern region.Director General (DG) of Bangladesh Railway (BR) Md Amzad Hossain said that the proposed rail line would stretch from Dhaka to Jessore through the Padma Multipurpose Bridge via Mawa of Munshiganj and Bhanga of Faridpur.The Railway DG said, work for formulating the Development Project Proforma (DPP) for the project is going on.Railway Minister Md Mazibul Hoque said, China Railway Group Limited (CREC) will implement the project.In a letter, signed by Economic and Commercial Councillor of Chinese embassy in Bangladesh Wang Zijiang, mentioned that the Padma Bridge project has been awarded to China Major Bridge Company of CREC Group.
