After a prolonged wait and multiple trial runs, passenger train services are finally set to commence on the Jamuna Railway Bridge, ending train operations on the Bangabandhu Bridge, reports bdnews24.com.
Regular train services on the newly constructed bridge will begin on Wednesday morning.
The Dhaka-bound Silk City Express from Rajshahi will be the first to cross the bridge, situated north of the Bangabandhu Bridge.
Project Director Al Fattah Md Masudur Rahman said the train is set to traverse the Jamuna Railway Bridge at 10am.
Other trains will follow in phases, and commercial operations will officially begin on Feb 18.
PD Fattah told bdnews24.com on Tuesday: “From Wednesday until Feb 18, one of the two tracks on the bridge will be used for train movement in both directions. From Feb 18, trains will run on both tracks.”
He added, “The Silk City Express will depart at 7am and reach the bridge around 10am. Gradually, other scheduled trains will also begin using the bridge.”
“From Wednesday, trains departing from Dhaka will use the right track on the northern side of the Jamuna Railway Bridge, while the existing rail line on the old bridge will be disconnected, halting all train operations on it," he said.
The official inauguration of the bridge is set for Feb 18, with Transport and Railway Advisor Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan and other officials expected to attend the event.
“A special inauguration train will cross the bridge on that day, marking the start of full commercial operations on both tracks,” the project director Rahman said.
Initially named the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge, the structure was renamed Jamuna Railway Bridge by the interim government in December 2024.
Currently, 40 trains travel daily via the Jamuna Bridge from Dhaka.
On Mar 3, 2020, the government approved the construction of a 4.80-kilometre dual-gauge double-track railway bridge parallel to the Bangabandhu Multipurpose Bridge.
The project cost was estimated at Tk 167.8 billion, with Tk 463.1 billion funded by the government and Tk 121.49 billion provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA.
According to railway authorities, a 7.667-kilometre railway approach embankment, along with loop and siding tracks, has been constructed, bringing the total length of railway tracks for the project to 30.73 kilometres.
Bd-pratidin English/ Afia
