Govt mulling rail links with China, Malaysia, Thailand
Says railways minister
Every single district will be brought under rail connectivity, said Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujon yesterday.
“Works on Cox's Bazar-Dohajari rail line is already going on,” he said.
“We're considering expanding the Cox's Bazar-Ghumdhum-Myanmar rail route [proposed] up to China, Malaysia and Thailand in future,” he said.
The minister was addressing a views exchange meeting with railway officials in Chattogram city's Central Railway Building.
About another rail line project for Dhaka-Chattogram route, he said once the project is finished, a high-speed train will take only 57 minutes to travel between the two major cities.
In the project, 90 percent of the rail track will be elevated to avoid land acquisition complexity, he said.
“We are also planning to construct a separate rail line connecting Dhaka, Narayanganj, Cumilla, Feni and Chattogram,” said Sujon.
The government will also convert the metre gauge and broad gauge lines into dual gauge one.
To develop the railway sector, he called upon all the staff under the ministry to work hard and refrain from committing corruption. “If any irregularity or corruption is identified, strong measures will be taken in this regard,” Sujon said.
Kazi Rafiqul Alam, director general of Bangladesh Railway; along with other high-ups, were also present.