Mohammad Zakaria
About 40 per cent construction work of the much-hyped Padma Rail Link Project had been completed, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said.
The minister disclosed the information on Thursday in the proposed budget speech for fiscal 2021-22.
He placed the proposed national budget of Tk 6,03,681 crore in parliament with Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair.
“The government has considered the railway sector as the safest, comfortable, affordable and environment-friendly means for transporting passengers and goods,” the minister said.
He said that about 57 per cent of the Chattogram-Dohazari-Ghumdum railway project and about 77.75 per cent of the Mongla-Khulna railway project were completed.
The implementation work on the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Rail Bridge on Jamuna River and Rupsha Rail Bridge projects were also going on full swing, he added.
As part of the 30-year revised master plan (2016-2045) of Bangladesh Railway, Cox's Bazar, Mongla Port, Tungipara, Barishal, Chattogram Hill Tracts and other parts of the country would be brought under the railway network, Mustafa Kamal mentioned in the proposed budget speech, adding that 230 projects will be implemented in six phases under this master plan at a cost of Tk 5,53,662 crore.
These projects have been taken up to establish Padma Bridge Rail Link, Trans-Asian Railway and Regional Railway Network, and connect nearest suburbs with important cities like Dhaka, Chattogram, Rangpur, Dinajpur and Sylhet.
Under the 8th Five Year Plan, the construction of 798.09km of new railway lines, construction of 897km of dual gauge/double railway lines parallel to existing railway lines, rehabilitation of 886.51km of railway lines, construction of nine important railway bridges, construction of other crossings, level crossings, and construction and modernisation of 160 new locomotives, 1,704 passenger coaches, procurement of modern maintenance equipment, improvement of signalling system at 222 stations, strengthening of railway management and financial management development activities had been undertaken, said the finance minister in his speech.
