Padma Rail Link Project seeks another year

The authorities of the Padma Rail Link Project have sought a year of time extension for completion, due to slow progress. The current project deadline is June 2025.

They stated that the station building construction, signalling system installation and other relevant work would take additional time to complete. The authorities however did not seek a cost extension of the Tk 39,247 crore project that had begun back in January 2016.

In December last year, Project Director Md Afzal Hossain sent a letter to Bangladesh Railway requesting them to send the time extension proposal to the Planning Commission.

Railway sources said the proposal will be sent to the railway ministry and then to the Planning Commission for approval.

This letter mentioned that according to the Revised Development Project Proposal (RDPP), the completion timeline of the project was set from January 2016 to June 2024.

The second RDPP was sent to the Railway in July last year, and then after a detailed review, was sent to the ministry in November. The second RDPP was prepared seeking a time extension and some changes in the work plan.

According to the contract with the construction contractor, the contract will be valid till April 2024 and there will be a defect liability period till April 2025. The project authority wants to extend the deadline and keep some workforce and consultants during the defect liability period.

As the salary and expenses for the workers come from the revenue sector and the RDPP takes time to be approved, they requested the time extension as early as possible, said railway officials.

Sources said the railway track installation work between Dhaka to Jashore will be completed within the existing 2024 deadline, but they would need time to complete the construction of the station building and signalling system, and to detect potential errors in completed works.

Project officials say trains are already operating daily on the 82km railway line from Dhaka to Bhanga via Mawa under the project since last October. Besides, from Bhanga to Jashore’s Rupdia via Narail, they have completed setting up the 82-kilometre main line.

By this June, the project officials will be able to complete the loop lines as well, but the signalling system and a number of station buildings will not be completed.

There will be a computer-based interlock signalling system at 20 stations that will take one more year to complete. Moreover, on the Dhaka-Bhanga section, works at Gandaria, Keraniganj, and Bhanga Junction stations are not completed yet.

The station building at Narail does not have much progress in construction as well.

According to the latest progress report on the project, the overall progress was 90 per cent till December last year, while the Bhanga-Jashore track installation work progress stood at 64 per cent, the Dhaka-Mawa section progressed by 87 per cent, the Mawa-Bhanga section 98 per cent, and the Bhanga-Jashore section by 85.5 per cent.

According to project details, the railway line is being constructed in three phases (plus a 3km link being built between Dhaka and Gandaria) – 37km Gandaria-Mawa section, a 42km Mawa-Bhanga section, and an 87km Bhanga Junction-Jashore section.

Some 43.2km of loops, siding and Y-connections bring the total track length to 215.2km. The entire railway project from Dhaka-Jashore was earlier scheduled to be completed by June 2024.

There will be 20 stations from Dhaka to Jashore, of which 14 are new and 6 are already there. The previous stations are also being modernised. Once completed, trains will be able to run at a speed of 120km to 130km.

There will be no railway crossing anywhere on the Dhaka-Jashore railway line as underpasses are being constructed at each level crossing all the way from Dhaka to Jashore.

The distance from Dhaka to Bhanga is about 82 kilometres. The new railway line from Gandaria in Dhaka has been added to the Padma Bridge via Keraniganj. Trains are being operated from Kamalapur to Bhanga via Gandaria along the Dhaka-Narayanganj railway line.

Under the project, 100 modern passenger coaches have already been purchased. New trains will be introduced by decorating the rakes with them.

The Padma Bridge rail link project was approved on May 3, 2016. At that time, its construction cost was estimated to be around Tk 34,989 crore. When the project proposal was amended on May 22, 2018, the cost increased to Tk 39,247 crore.

The cost may increase further, authorities concerned said.

The Padma Bridge rail link project is being constructed with Chinese funding, on the basis of a G2G (government to government) deal.

Chinese contractor China Railway Engineering Group (CREC) is working on the project. China's Exim Bank is providing a loan of $266.79 crore to implement the project. The rest of the cost is being managed by the government of Bangladesh.

In October last year, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated rail service on the much-desired Dhaka-Bhanga railway connectivity via Padma Bridge, the 82-kilometre railway track from Dhaka to Faridpur’s Bhanga upazila under “Padma Bridge Rail Link Construction Project.”