Dhaka to Bhanga: Padma Bridge rail line to open by September

The Dhaka to Bhanga rail line via the Padma Bridge will be ready for train operation by August and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate it the following month.

Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan revealed this after Bangladesh Railway operated the first train on the newly constructed Bhanga-Mawa track through the bridge yesterday.

"This is a historic day for Bangladesh because we have reached the Mawa station after crossing Padma Bridge from Bhanga in a train," he told reporters at the station.

Sujan said he has inspected the work progress from Dhaka to Bhanga and was briefed by the project officials, who told him that the work in this section will be done by August.

The PM will then inaugurate the rail line at a convenient time in September, he added.

BR is implementing the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project to build a 169km rail line from Dhaka to Jashore via the Padma Bridge at the cost of Tk 39,247 crore.

When BR undertook the project in May 2016, the cost was Tk 34,702.74 and the deadline was June 2022.

The revised deadline of the entire project was then set for June 2024 but BR wants to open the 82km section from Dhaka to Bhanga in the first phase.

Bhanga is already a part of the country's railway network.

The overall physical progress of the fast-track project is currently at 74 percent. The Dhaka-Mawa section made 72.50 percent progress while the Mawa-Bhanga section 91 percent and the Bhanga-Jashore section 68 percent, according to project document.

Once the entire line, which will have 20 stations, is opened, the distance from Dhaka to Jashore would decrease by 200km and the travel time would be halved – from 10 hours to five.

The double-decker Padma Bridge -- roadway on the top and railway at the bottom -- was opened to public in June last year, significantly reducing the travel time from Dhaka to southwestern districts by road.

THE TEST RUN

BR has been preparing to operate a special train for what it said was the "test run of the first train" through the Padma Bridge to operate over the newly constructed section after the rail track installation on the bridge was completed last week.

A special train with seven coaches and two locomotives were brought to the Bhanga Station for the purpose. Many, mostly local leaders and activist of the ruling party, gathered at the station.

The railways ministry and the Prime Minister's Office called upon over 100 journalists from Dhaka to cover the trial run.

The train left the station at 1:22pm with the railways minister; Chief Whip of parliament Noor-e-Alam Chowdhury Liton; and several lawmakers from Madaripur, Shariatpur, Munshiganj and Faridpur, political leaders and journalists on board.

As it moved towards the Padma Bridged, patriotic songs were being played inside the newly imported coaches from China, which also provided loans for the project.

When the train passed the Padma Station at Janjira at 2:35pm, the project workers greeted the passengers by waving small flags of Bangladesh and China.

It entered the lower deck of the bridge at low speed at 2:48pm and took 16 minutes to cross the 6.15km bridge.

The train then reached the Mawa Station at 3:18pm. A BR official said the highest speed that the train was operated at was 25kmph.