Faridpur-Magura Rail Line: Work to start finally 3 yrs after approval

Construction of a rail line from Faridpur's Madhukhali to Magura is finally going to start this month, around three years after the government approved the Tk 1,202.49-crore project.

Bangladesh Railway will sign two-year contracts with two China-Bangladesh joint-venture companies on May 23 to build the 23.90 km broad-gauge track, railway officials told this newspaper yesterday.

The authorities will have to extend the current deadline for completing the project, which will expire in April next year, they mentioned.

Asked about the reasons behind the delay, the officials said that usually the feasibility study of a project is carried out before its approval. But in this case, the study was done after the project's approval, and it took one and a half years to complete the study.

On May 29, 2018, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved the project to construct the rail line from Madhukhali to Magura via Kamarkhali in Faridpur.

The project is supposed to be completed by April next year. But it saw only 16.30 percent progress till February this year, according to BR documents.

The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase on April 21 this year approved two proposals from the railways ministry for awarding contracts for the project's physical work.

The work will be carried out under two packages. A joint venture company of China Railway Group Ltd, also known as CREC, and Castle Construction Company Ltd of Bangladesh will implement the first package at a cost of Tk 433.78 crore, said railway sources.

Another joint venture firm of China Railway Construction Corporation Limited and Mir Akhter Hossain Ltd of Bangladesh will implement the second package involving Tk 448.98 crore.

Both the companies will get two years to finish the jobs.

The BR will sign the contracts with the two companies on May 23, Project Director Ashadul Haque told The Daily Star yesterday.

Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan is likely to join the programme.

"After the signing of the contracts, the companies will mobilise their manpower and are expected to start work within a week," Ashadul said.

Asked about the project deadline, he said they are likely to extend it.

Once the project is completed, Magura, a south-western district, will come under the railway network.

Around 50 years ago, there was a rail link between Faridpur's Madhukhali and Kamarkhali, which is now inoperative. But no rail line was built from Kamarkhali to Magura, BR officials said.

The government plans to bring all the districts under the railway network, and this project is being implemented as part of the plan.

Among the 10 districts under Khulna Division, Magura, Narail, Bagerhat and Satkhira are yet to be linked to the network.

Narail will come under the network once the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project, under which a 169km-rail line is being constructed from Dhaka to Jashore, is completed in 2024.

Under the project, Bhanga, which has a rail link with Faridpur, will be turned into a junction, and one will be able to travel to Magura from Dhaka by train.

Early this year, the authorities cancelled a project undertaken for carrying out a feasibility study to build a rail line connecting Bagerhat with Gopalganj.

Meanwhile, the German government has expressed its interest in investing in the construction of a rail line from Jashore's Navaran to Satkhira.

At a meeting with the railways minister at the Rail Bhaban yesterday, Peter Fahrenholtz, German ambassador to Bangladesh, said his country was also interested in investing in other railway projects, said a press release of the ministry.

The minister urged Germany to provide the BR with modern technology and arrange training for railway officials.