The authorities of Bangladesh Railway have successfully completed a trial run of a train on the Padma Bridge from Dhaka to Bhanga on Thursday. It took 2.10 hours to cross around 82 kilometer stretch.
The special train left Kamalapur Railway Station in Dhaka at 10:07 am and reached Bhanga station in Faridpur at 12:17 pm.
Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan inaugurated the train journey.
Railways Minister, Deputy Minister for Water Resources AKM Enamul Hoque Shameem, Awami League presidium member Shajahan Khan, Jatiya Sangsad Chief Whip Noor-e-Alam Chowdhury Liton, Railways Secretary Dr Humayun Kabir, Bangladesh Railway Director General Md Kamrul Ahsan, Padma Bridge Rail Link Project Director Afzal Hossain and other officials were on board.
Railways Minister said, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the Dhaka-Bhanga rail service through the Padma Bridge on October 10.
On October 14 last year, the prime minister opened the construction work on a rail link between Dhaka and Jashore under the ‘Padma Bridge Rail Link Construction Project.’
The entire railway project from Dhaka-Jashore is scheduled to be completed by June, 2024.
The Padma Bridge Rail Link project was approved on May 4, 2016. It is being constructed with Chinese funding, on the basis of G2G (government to government). 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.