Procurement Of 150 Carriages: Railway inks deal with S Korean firm

Bangladesh Railway yesterday signed a contract with a South Korean joint-venture firm to procure 150 meter-gauge passenger carriages to replace the old one and increase the number of trains.

Under the contract, the firm -- Sung Shin RST and Posco International -- will supply the carriages within 18 to 30 months of the contract signing at the cost of Tk 658.31 crore.

Financed by the EXIM Bank of South Korea, the carriages are being procured under the project titled "Procurement of 20 nos meter gauge diesel electric locomotives and 150 nos meter gauge passenger carriages for Bangladesh railway".

The Tk 1,799.10 crore project is being implemented between July 2017 and June 2021.

In March last year, the BR inked a deal with Hyundai Rotem Company, a Korean firm, to buy 20 new MG locomotives for Tk 674.09 crore, under the same project, Project Director Mohammad Hassan Mansur said.

"As per the contract, the company has to deliver the engines within 22-28 months and we are hopeful about getting the locomotives on time," he told The Daily Star.

Yesterday, Hassan Mansur and Jong Bum Lee, country manager of Posco International, signed the contract on behalf of their respective sides at Railway Bhaban in presence of Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan.