Tk 24cr project to explore electric train service
Bangladesh Railway (BR) has decided to carry out feasibility study on another railway route to explore whether electric train services can be introduced there.
A project evaluation committee, with Railways Ministry Secretary Humayun Kabir in the chair, green-lighted the Tk 24-crore project on Dhaka-Rajshahi route yesterday.
The time-frame of the study has been set from January 2022 to June 2023.
Now, BR will recast the Development Project Proposal (DPP), following the decisions of yesterday's meeting, and will send it to the planning ministry for approval, participants of the meeting said.
However, BR's proposals to carry out feasibility studies on two more routes -- Akhaura-Sylhet and Joydebpur-Mymensingh-Jamalpur — for electrification, did not get approval.
The committee in an earlier meeting kept the two separate proposals pending, sources said.
BR took up the first project in October last year to carry out a feasibility study on Narayanganj-Dhaka-Chattogram route. BR sources said the process for hiring consultants for the project is ongoing.
The project was initiated more than six years back. Besides, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave out directives to introduce the cost-effective and environment-friendly electrification system over five years ago.
WHY ELECTRIFICATION IS NECESSARY?
Under the system, a railway electric traction system supplies electric power to locomotives, which means the trains don't require any onboard fuel. An overhead electricity line has to be installed along the railway track to transmit energy this way.
Currently, BR operates diesel-powered trains on its 3,019-kilometre railway network.
Experts said although initial investment for electric trains is relatively high, its operational and maintenance costs are much lower. The system is also environment-friendly and more reliable.
Currently, Bangladesh produces sufficient electricity, with more power-plants in the pipeline, for such systems to work, the experts added.
These developments are taking place at a time when BR is lagging far behind in electrification of railways compared to other countries, including neighbouring India.
India's first passenger train started operating in 1853, while rail-transport in Bangladeshi land began in 1862.
The first electric passenger train in India started operation in February 1925. From there, the Indian Railway gradually electrified 45,881 km of its rail lines, about 71 percent of its total broad-gauge network, by March last year, according to the website of Central Organisation for Railway Electrification (CORE).
CORE, which is responsible for electrification of railway tracks in India, plans to electrify all broad-gauge routes by December 2023.
THE NEW PROJECT
The 258-km Dhaka-Rajshahi route is one of the busiest sections of BR with around 40 stations.
According to the project document, once the section is electrified, it will increase speed by 10 to 15 percent, which will allow BR to increase the number carriages on the route.
It will also reduce operational and maintenance costs and increase income, and increase life expectancy of the tracks and sleepers, as the axle load of locomotive will be reduced, reads the document.
Meanwhile, the project evaluation committee yesterday decided to take opinions from Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan before deciding whether BR will send the DPP of the proposed high-speed rail project to the Economic Relations Division to seek funds.
BR has already completed feasibly study to operate high speed trains on Dhaka-Chattogram corridor, but the high cost of the project has left BR authorities undecided over its implementation, sources said.
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