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Operation resumes Aug 1
FROM PAGE 3
As the existing Dhaka-Narayanganj metre gauge (MG) line is not capable of meeting the growing demand of passengers, the Bangladesh Railway (BR) in January 2015 took up the project to build a second line on this route to double the existing capacity of 16 pairs of trains daily.
The project deadline was June 2017 but the railway could not even hire contractors for the works within the stipulated deadline.
In the meantime, BR in last December suspended train operation on this route to facilitate the work of the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project. Under this project, a 169km rail line is being built from Dhaka’s Kamalapur to Jashore.
Besides, two separate dual gauge rail lines from Kamalapur to Gendarai; and one separate dual gauge line from Gendria to Jurain would also be built under the project, which will actually be used for train operation on the Dhaka-Narayanganj route, said officials.
As a result, a second line on the remaining 12km line from Jurain to Narayanganj would be built under the Dhaka-Narayanganj double lining project, they added.
When the project works saw 82 percent progress, Power Construction Corporation of China (PCCC), the contractor laying the rail line, on March 15 this year sent a “contract termination notice” to the project authority.
The contractor alleged that it was not getting payments and the project site was not handed over to it on time, shows a project document.
BR tried to revive the contract but the contractor did not give any positive reply, so BR has started the process to hire a new contractor, Project Director Selim Rouf told The Daily Star yesterday.
Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan, after visiting the route yesterday, also told reporters that they were going to hire a new contractor for the job.
He said the operation of the section will resume from August 1. BR sources said a new line from Kamalapur to Jurain is completed and the existing line from Jurain to Narayanganj will be used to resume the operation.
Initally ually, it was said the section will remain closed for only three months but it will open after eight months.
In another development, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec), following the proposal of the project authority, revised the project in April this year to convert the existing metre-gauge line from Jurain to Narayanganj, taking the project cost to Tk 658.34 crore and the deadline to June 2026.
“Now we will hire a contractor for two jobs -- converting the metre gauge line into dual gauge and complete the rest of the work, which was left out by the Chinese contractor,” Rouf told this correspondent.
They will float a tender soon, he said, adding that the new contractor will first complete the second line.
Then they will start works for converting the MG lines into dual gauge to keep the train operation intact, he added.
Asked why they have changed the work scope to convert the MG line eight years after the initiation of the project, Rouf said there was scarcity of money at that time.
Replying to another question, he said it would take up to June 2026 to get the double line facility fully.