The government has taken an initiative to construct a circular rail line around the Dhaka city in order to ease the capital’s traffic jam.
Following many South Asian cities, especially Kolkata, Bangladesh capital has started dreaming of a circular rail route set to be implemented in the near future.
A survey, conducted by a Chinese firm, has found the rail route feasible for a length of 80.89 kilometres in greater Dhaka, said Bangladesh Railway officials.
The project authorities have sent copies of the report to various agencies including the Roads and Highways Department (RHD), Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA), Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), and Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd (DMTCL) for their opinions.
It said the project would take 6 years to implement and the potential cost would be 8.37 billion dollars.
If the project is implemented, the people of the capital will be able to move very comfortably and people from the districts around the capital will be able to come to the capital very easily.
However, it was known that the length of the circular railway will connect Narayanganj with the surrounding districts in the form of a ring around the capital. According to railway sources, China has already expressed interest in implementing the project.
Meanwhile, the possible routes of the circular rail project have been identified from the Bishwa Ijtema ground to Uttara, Dhaka Zoo, Gabtali, Mohammadpur, Sadarghat, Postagola, Fatulla, Chashara, Adamji, Demra, Trimahoni, Purbachal and Tongi.
The rail route will have 24 stations, of which 11 will have metro rail, bus service, internal route change with Sadarghat launch terminal. Of this, 10 km of railway track will be underground, and the rest of the route will be elevated. Out of 24 stations, 3 stations will be underground. The remaining 21 stations will be elevated.
So far, Chinese, Japanese and South Korean firms have expressed an interest in being involved in the financing and construction of the project.
Contacted, Project Director Monirul Islam Firozi told Bangladesh Post, "We will soon present the report in the form of a presentation at a meeting in the presence of the Railway Minister after the initial feasibility study. And this report will be finalized after taking everyone's opinion.”
“The detailed design and Development Project Proposal (DPP) will be prepared after that,” he added.
However, using the network, one will be able to go from one end of the capital to the other without having to enter the city. Its many interchange stations with the metro rail, bus rapid transit, or other modes, will also allow people to enter the city, said BR officials.
