Govt to build 2 rail bridges over Jamuna

The Ministry of Railways has proposed to construct two rail bridges on the Jamuna river at an estimated cost of $3 billion to make goods transport easier and facilitate transit to neighbouring countries.
The ministry last month sent a proposal to the cabinet committee on economic affairs to construct the bridges under Public-Private Partnership. A feasibility study is also going on in this regard with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank.
A high-powered meeting chaired by the prime minister discussed the two projects and directed the railways ministry to take necessary steps for their implementation.
One of the bridges, a dual-gauge double track with a length of 4.8 kilometres, would be constructed parallel to the existing Bangabandhu Jamuna Bridge at a cost of $1 billion.
The ministry said at present goods or passenger trains can move at a highest speed of 20 km per hour on the Bangabandhu Bridge. There is restriction on movement of trains on the bridge if they are overloaded.
The proposal says transport of goods will increase if a separate railway bridge is constructed. The proposed bridge could be used in case of closure of the Bangabandhu Bridge due to natural disaster or any other causes.
A railways ministry official said a meeting between India and Bangladesh agreed that a separate rail bridge was necessary for transport of Indian containerised cargo across the Jamuna.
The ministry proposed construction of another bridge at a cost of $2 billion between Fulchhari and Bahadurabad ghat with a length of about 11 km including the approach link.
The ministry said if the bridge was constructed, goods transport throughout the country would become easier and it would also increase economic growth.
It added the bridge would also shorten the road length for transport of Indian goods to Chittagong Port, Dhaka, Akhaura-Agartola, Shahbazpur-Karimganj through Birol-Radhikapur and Chilahati-Haldibari.
As construction of the bridges with the government's own fund is very difficult, those would be built under Built-Own-Transfer (BOT) or Built-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) system.