23-24 November 2015 POSITION PAPER · Railway Bridge parallel to existing Bangabandhu Bridge: •There is load restriction of 43.7 KN/m and speed restriction of 20 kmph on existing

4th Meeting of the Working Group on the

Trans-Asian Railway Network 23-24 November 2015

POSITION PAPER

BANGLADESH

Presented by: Najnin Ara Keya Additional Chief Engineer Bangladesh Railway

Brief about Bangladesh Railway

1862: Started its journey as Eastern Bengal Railway with

53.11 km Jagoti-Darsana BG Rail link.

1961: Renamed as Pakistan Eastern Railway.

1972: Started providing services as Bangladesh Railway.

1998: East-West Railway connectivity over river Jamuna was

established from the day of opening Bangabandhu Bridge.

2003: Direct BG train communication between East and West zone was

established over Bangabandhu Bridge.

2007: Bangladesh signed TAR agreement.

2008: Direct passenger train “Maitree Express” between Dhaka and Kolkata

established.

2011: Ministry of Railways formed under SRO-361.

Covers and connects 44 Districts of the country out of 64 Districts.

456 stations encircling core business activities around the country.

In 2014: 65 million Passengers and 2.52 million tonnes freight carried by BR. 3

Operational Information of Bangladesh Railway

• East Zone: 1308.27 km

• MG: 1273.38 km

• BG: 0.00 km

• DG: 34.89 km

• West Zone: 1568.83 km

• MG: 534.67 km

• BD: 659.33 km

• DG: 374.83 km

Two Zones: East and West Zone

• Dhaka

• Chittagong

• Paksey

• Lalmonirhat

Operational Division: 4 divisions

• 2877.10 km

• MG: 1808.05 km

• BG: 659.33 km

• DG: 409.72 km

Total Route Kilometer:

Existing Railway Network

Government’s Strategic Position on establishing TAR

Bangladesh singed the “Intergovernmental Agreement on the

Trans-Asian Railway Network” on 09 November 2007 as 20th

signatory.

Cabinet Committee approved in-principle to ratify the agreement

on 09 March 2009.

The Hona’ble Minister of Foreign Affairs issued ratification of the

said agreement on 11 August 2010.

ESCAP recorded the date of 25 August 2010 as date of

ratification.

Status of Missing Links of TAR Network in Bangladesh

Radhikapur (West Bengal,

India) and Birol (Bangladesh):

Train operation has been closed

since 01 April, 2005 due to

conversion of meter gauge line

into broad gauge line in Indian

side upto Radhikapur.

To re-establish the connectivity,

the government of Bangladesh

undertook a project on 15-04-

2009 to convert the existing Birol-

Parbatipur meter gauge section

into dual gauge under Japan

Debt Cancellation Fund (JDCF).

The physical progress of the project is about 95%. The project is targeted to be

completed by June 2016.

Status of Missing Links of TAR Network in Bangladesh (Contd.)

Shahbazpur (Bangladesh) to

Karimganj-Mohishasan (India):

Train operation has been closed

since 07 July, 2002 due to

deplorable condition of railway

track & bridges in Kulaura-

Shahbazpur section.

GOB has taken a project to re-

establish this inter-country railway

linkage under Indian Line of

Credit fund. Design and

supervision consultancy contract

was signed on 13.08.2015.

The project is targeted to be completed by June 2019.


Dohazari-Gundum (Bangladesh):

feasibility study, detailed design and

preparation of Bid document for

construction of dual gauge rail line

is being carried out under ADB

funded TA project.

Total 128 km dual gauge single line

Railway track with the provision of

future double track will be

constructed from Dohazari to Cox’s

Bazar via Ramu and Ramu to

Gundum near Myanmar Border.

ADB has been agreed in-principle to finance more than US$ 1.00 Billion for the

investment project. The project is planned to be completed by June 2020. The

land acquisition process for the project is going on.


Railway Bridge parallel to existing

Bangabandhu Bridge:

•There is load restriction of 43.7 KN/m

and speed restriction of 20 kmph on

existing Bangabandhu Bridge.

• As such it is essential to construct a

separate bridge for railway to allow TAR

traffic.

•Feasibility study has been carried out

under ADB funded TA project.

• A dedicated railway bridge with the

provision of DG double line is going to be

constructed under JICA funding.

• Detailed design under JICA fund is

targeted to be completed by 2017.

•The investment project would cost more

than 1 billion USD.

Improvement of Line Capacity of TAR Network in Bangladesh

Dhaka - Chittagong railway

corridor:

Out of total 320.79 km Dhaka-

Chittagong railway corridor, only

78.34 km double track is to be

constructed to establish double

line train operation in the total

corridor.

Moreover, Government of

Bangladesh has decided to

convert the entire Dhaka-

Chittagong railway corridor into

DG for capacity enhancement of

the corridor and unification of

gauge.

Improvement of Line Capacity of TAR Network in Bangladesh (Contd.)

Dhaka-Chittagong railway

corridor (Contd.):

•61km double track in Laksam-

Chinki Astana section

constructed under JICA & GOB

fund was inaugurated on

19.04.2015.

•64km double track in Tongi-

Bhairab Bazar section

constructed under ADB & GOB

fund is targeted to be

inaugurated in December

2015.

•2nd Bhairab and 2nd Titas along with railway approaches construction is targeted to be

completed by 2018.

•Only remaining single line section Akhaura-Laksam (72 km) will be double tracked under

ADB, EIB and GOB fund which is expected to be completed by 2020.


Chittagong-Dohazari railway

section:

•Government of Bangladesh has

planned to construct a second

rail-cum-road bridge over river

Karnaphuli at Kalurghat point.

•The project is likely to be

financed by EDCF, Korea.

• Feasibility study is on progress

by the Korean consultants

engaged by EDCF. Loan

Agreement is yet to be signed.

•Government of Bangladesh has planned to convert existing single meter gauge line of

Chittagong-Dohazari section into dual gauge double line to cater increasing railway traffic.

• Feasibility study, detailed design and tendering services is going to be carried out under

ADB funded TA project. Investment project is also likely to be financed by ADB.


Isurdi-Joydevpur section:

•GOB has planned to

construct 164 km new DG

railway track to allow all type

of containers commonly used

in maritime shipping, double

staking of containers and

cross border traffic.

•Feasibility study has been

carried out under ADB funded

TA project.

•The investment project

would cost around USD 1060

million.

•A non-binding MOU was signed with China Civil Engineering Construction

Corporation on 26 October 2014. The project assistance yet to be finalized.


Parbatipur- Ishurdi

Section:

GOB has planned to

construct a second

dual gauge railway

track in Parbatipur-

Abdulpur section (157

km) for double line

operation of train

services in the section.

Feasibility study is yet

to be done and project

assistance yet to be

arranged.


Akhaura-Kulaura-

Sylhet :

GOB has planned under

Master Plan of

Bangladesh Railway to

convert meter gauge

track of Akhaura-Kulaura-

Sylhet section (176.72

km) into dual gauge.

The new dual gauge line

will be designed with axle

load of 25 ton and design

speed of 120 kmph.

Feasibility study is yet to

be carried out.

A non-binding MOU was signed with China Railway Construction Bridge

Engineering Bureau Group Co. Ltd. on 15 September 2015.

The project assistance is yet to be finalized.

Establishment of an Inland Container Depot

Proposed ICD at Dhirasram

with the capacity of 3,54,000

TEUs will be ideally suited for

containerization of Indo-

Bangla trade in the near

future and may serve as land

hub in Trans-Asian Railway

(TAR), SAARC and BIMSTEC

corridors.

A feasibility study for

construction of ICD at

Dhirasram was conducted in

2004.

A TA project under ADB fund is taken in hand for upgradation of the feasibility

study along with detailed design preparation and tendering services for

construction of the ICD. The investment project is likely to be financed by ADB

Proposed Padma Bridge Rail link in Bangladesh

180 km (approx.) BG railway line is

going to be constructed connecting

Dhaka-Mawa-Padma Bridge-Bhanga-

Narail-Rupdia/Singia.

The project is going to be

implemented under China G2G

funding.

The line will shorten the distance

between Dhaka-Benapole by 185 km.

Feasibility study of phase-I & II and

detailed design for phase-I is about to

complete.

Negotiation for commercial contract

with China Railway Group Limited is

going on.

Railway connection with Sea Ports in Bangladesh

• At present railway

connection with only

Chittagong sea port exists in

Bangladesh.

•A project is going on to

connect Mongla Sea Port

under Indian Line of Credit

and targeted to be completed

by 2018.

•GOB has planned to

construct another sea port at

Payra and railway line from

Bhanga to connect the port.

Railway connection with Sea Ports in Bangladesh

•Government of Bangladesh has decide

to establish a power generation hub

based on coal-fired power plants in

Matarbari 3000 MW and Moheshkhali

6000 MW and also 3000 MW LNG

based power plant in the same area in

future. The power hub facility will

include Deep Sea Port with Coal and

Heavy jetty, coal yard, container

handling facilities etc.

• Feasibility study, detailed design and

tendering services for construction of

railway link with the power hub and

deep sea port is going to be carried out

under an ADB funded TA project.

Proposed amendment in TAR network in Bangladesh

In conformity with article

8(4) of the Agreement,

Bangladesh has

proposed an

amendment as

described hereafter:

On the Darsana –

Gundum line

Replace

Tongi (junction) Dhaka

With

Tongi (junction) Dhaka –

Narayanganj – [Mawa –

Bhanga – Narail –

Jessore] – Benapol

(border station) – (India)

Policies and issues relating to the development of TAR

Physical and institutional improvement of BR is undertaken in line with

NLTP and Railway Master Plan.

Major issues are to restructure Bangladesh Railway into commercially -

oriented organization in combination with substantial investment in

infrastructure, rolling stocks, signalling systems, maintenance and technical

modernization for sustainable development.

Implementation of Tariff structure reform: A proposal for implementation

of a fixed 'Tariff Structure' with an yearly adjustment formula based on

various factors is now under active consideration of the government of

Bangladesh for approval.

Establishment of Container Company in Bangladesh Railway:

Action has been taken to establish a company named "Container Company

of Bangladesh Limited" dedicated for only container transportation. The

proposal of establishment of the Container Company is now under

consideration of the government of Bangladesh for approval.

Documents

23-24 November 2015 POSITION PAPER · Railway Bridge parallel to existing Bangabandhu Bridge: •There is load restriction of 43.7 KN/m and speed restriction of 20 kmph on existing