Ecnec okays Tk 378cr dual-gauge project

The Ecnec yesterday approved a project to lay a dual-gauge track on the Dhaka-Narayanganj route to increase railway's passenger carrying capacity fourfold.

Once the track is laid, Bangladesh Railway will be able to transport 93,000 passengers on the route every day against its current capacity of 23,000 commuters, said a planning ministry statement.

Chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) gave the nod to the Tk 378 crore project. Of the amount, Japan will provide the railway with Tk 249 crore as grant.

Under the project, a dual-gauge track will be laid parallel to the existing meter-gauge track. Seventy-six trains would run on the route every day after completion of the project in June 2017. At present, 32 trains ply the route.

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said the new track would save valuable time wasted in traffic jam on the Dhaka-Narayanganj road.

The meeting also gave the go-ahead for five other projects. Under one of the revised projects, 11 secondary schools and six colleges will be built in Dhaka metropolitan city at a cost of Tk 295 crore.

The project cost has been slashed by 28 percent. The deadline for completion of the scheme has been extended to June 2016 from June 2014.

The secondary schools will be built at Hazaribagh, Uttara, Rupnagar, Demra, Kafrul, Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Uttarkhan, Jurain, Moghbazar and Kamrangirchar.  Six new colleges will be set up at Sabujbagh, Hazaribagh, Uttara, Kafrul, Pallabi and Mohammadpur.

The planning ministry statement said the construction work of the schools and colleges are at the final stage.

The total costs of the six projects, two new and four revised ones, have been estimated at Tk 1031.67 crore.