For the first time, two passenger trains have crossed the Jamuna Rail Bridge, marking the beginning of a new railway connection between Dhaka and northern Bangladesh. At 11:12 AM today (Wednesday), the Silk City Express from Rajshahi crossed the bridge en route to Dhaka. Later, at 11:55 AM, the Burimari Express from Dhaka also traversed the bridge.
Al Fattah Masudur Rahman, Project Director of the Jamuna Rail Bridge, confirmed the development to Liberty News. He stated that commercial train operations have commenced on one of the two railway tracks on the bridge, with other scheduled trains set to follow gradually. Trains will no longer run via the old Jamuna Bridge.
He further explained that although the bridge has two tracks, trains will operate on a single track in both directions today. Tomorrow, trains traveling from Dhaka will use the right-side track, located on the northern side of the bridge.
According to relevant sources, railway connectivity between Dhaka and the northwestern region was established after the Jamuna Bridge opened in 1998. However, cracks appeared in the bridge in 2006, leading to a reduction in train speeds. Currently, around 38 trains cross the bridge daily at a speed of 20 km/h.
To address this issue, a separate railway bridge upstream over the Jamuna River was approved on March 3, 2020. The government sanctioned the construction of a 4.80 km dual-gauge double-track rail bridge parallel to the Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge.
The foundation stone for the rail bridge was laid on November 29, 2020, and piling work for its pillars began in March 2021.
Initially, the project cost was estimated at Tk 9,734.07 crore, but it was later increased to Tk 16,780.96 crore. Of this, 27.60% was funded from domestic sources, while 72.40% came as a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The project was implemented by Japanese companies OTG and IHI.
Liberty News’ national correspondent reports that a total of 30.73 km of railway tracks, including a 7.667 km railway approach embankment, loops, and sidings, have been constructed for the operation of this dual-gauge double-track rail bridge parallel to the Bangabandhu Bridge.
LND/SAKIB
