First commercial train crosses Jamuna Railway Bridge

The Silk City Express train, departing from Rajshahi, crossed the Jamuna Railway Bridge today (12 February) on its journey to Dhaka.

The bridge, built over the Jamuna River, saw its first commercial train service carrying passengers at 11:12am.

This marked the establishment of a new railway connection between Dhaka and North Bengal.

Al Fattah Masudur Rahman, director of the railway bridge project, said to journalists that one of the two tracks on the bridge has been officially opened for commercial train operations. As a result, trains will no longer run over the Bangabandhu Multipurpose Bridge.

He said that although the railway bridge has two tracks, for now, trains will operate in both directions using only one track.

"Tomorrow [Thursday], trains travelling from Dhaka will use the right-side track, meaning the northern side of the bridge. For the time being, trains will run in both directions on a single track," he added.

After the bridge over the Jamuna River was inaugurated in 1998, railway connectivity between Dhaka and the northwestern region was established. However, in 2008, cracks appeared in the bridge, leading to a reduction in train speed.

Currently, around 38 trains cross the bridge daily at a speed of 20 kilometres per hour. To address the issue, an initiative was taken on 3 March 2020, to construct a separate railway bridge upstream over the Jamuna River.

The government approved the construction of a 4.80-kilometre-long dual-gauge double-track railway bridge parallel to the Bangabandhu Multipurpose Bridge.

On 29 November 2020, the then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina laid the foundation stone for the railway bridge. In March 2021, piling work began for the construction of the bridge's pillars.

Initially, the construction cost of the project was set at Tk9,734.07 crore, but it was later increased to Tk16,780.96 crore. Of this amount, 27.60% was funded from domestic sources, while 72.40% was provided as a loan by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The construction of the largest railway bridge in the country was carried out by the Japanese companies OTG and IHI.

According to the railway, a 7.667-kilometre railway approach embankment was constructed for the use of this dual-gauge double-track railway bridge, built parallel to the Bangabandhu Multipurpose Bridge. Additionally, a total of 30.73 kilometres of railway tracks, including loops and sidings, were installed.

Initially, the bridge was named the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge. However, after the interim government took office, its name was changed to Jamuna Railway Bridge in December.