Khulna-Mongla Port rail link to begin operations in December: Railways Minister
The rail link between Khulna and Mongla Port will come into operations in December, said Railway Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujan.
Construction work of the 64-kilometre broad gauge line from Khulna to Mongla has seen a progress of 95%, as of July, the minister made the announcement during a visit in the Rupsa Rail Bridge area on Monday (1 August).
"The rail tracks will be built atop the Rupsa Rail Bridge, which was the main challenge," he said, adding that most of the rail line work is done while some remain pending.
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The minister said the railway line will benefit the neighbouring countries economically, "After the rail link is established, it will be easier to import-export goods to and from India, Nepal and Bhutan."
"If the Padma Bridge rail link project from Dhaka to Bhanga is launched in June next year, it will be possible to bring various regions under its network including the Sundarbans.
Dhirendranath Majumder, Director General of Bangladesh Railway, Asim Kumar Talukder, General Manager of Western Railway, along with project director and related persons were present during the inspection.
Bangladesh Railway (BR) Director General (DG) Dhirendra Nath Majumder, General Manager (GM) of the Western Railway Asim Kumar Talukder were present, among others, during the inspection.
The Khulna-Mongla Port Rail Line project was undertaken in December 2010 with a decade-long implementation period. The 64.75 km long broad-gauge rail line was supposed to be completed by June 2021.
But due to the slow pace of work, the project has been going on for more than a decade. It got an extension for one year and a half years and now the project is supposed to be completed by December 2022.
Along with the time extension, the revised project cost has also increased from the initial estimation of Tk3,801 crore to Tk4,261 crore.
A large portion of the financing for the project is coming from the Indian line of credit (LoC). Due to revising the project cost, the LoC assistance has increased from Tk2,371 crore to Tk2,946 crore.
