Railway buys 420 broad gauge wagons from India

Highlights

• Total cost Tk231.19 crore
• The wagons will be delivered within 27 months of contract effective date
• The government and the Asian Development Bank will provide the fund
• At present, Bangladesh Railway has 3,221 wagons – including 918 tank wagons, 1,030 covered wagons and 1,273 open wagons 

Bangladesh Railway (BR) signed a Tk231.19 crore deal with Hindustan Engineering and Industries Limited on Sunday to procure 420 broad gauge wagons.

The wagons will be delivered within 27 months from the effective date of contract and are being procured under the "Rolling Stock Operation Improvement Project" of Bangladesh Railway, funded by both the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Project Director Mizanur Rahman and Pradip Guha, vice president (marketing) of Hindustan Engineering and Industries Ltd, signed the contract on behalf of their respective organisations.

Speaking as chief guest at the signing ceremony, Railways Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujon said the new wagons will improve and increase freight transportation, replacing old Bangladesh Railway wagons.

"The country's development is not possible without the railways. For sustainable development, we are revamping the railway sector for a balanced communication system," he said.

He said "We have taken up several projects to expand railway communication across the country. As part of the initiatives, river and sea ports are being connected to the railways, and single, one-way lines are being made into two-way double lines." 

The new wagons will have stainless steel bodies, and their maximum operating speed will be 100kmph with a maximum axle load of 18.5 tonnes. 

With this purchase agreement, contracts for all the five packages of the Rolling Stock Operation Improvement Project have been completed and their aggregate cost is around Tk3,607.07 crore.

Asian Development Bank is financing 79% of the cost while the government is bearing the remaining cost of 21%.

In December 2021, under the same project, the BR signed another contract with the Chinese CRRC Shandong Co. Ltd worth Tk318.63crore to procure 580 Meter Gauge Wagons. 

At present, the railway has a total of 3,221 wagons of which 918 are tank wagons, 1030 are covered wagons and 1273 are open wagons. 

Among others, Railway secretary Md Humayun Kabir and Director General of Bangladesh Railway, Dhirendra Nath Mazumder, spoke at the programme.