Running of trains over the Padma Bridge on the inaugural day has remained in doubt as the Bangladesh Railway (BR) is yet to start construction of the rail tracks due to absence of an accord with the Chinese EXIM Bank on its Tk 247.49 billion credit.
Bangladesh was supposed to start construction of the rail tracks by this year as it signed US$ 3.14 billion commercial contract with a Chinese company on August 08 after negotiation under the government- to-government arrangement.
Sources said the BR has completed necessary procedures to get 90 per cent of the project cost from the Chinese government's EXIM Bank in September but is yet to get confirmation in this regard.
The Economic Relations Division has forwarded the necessary papers to the Chinese Embassy after meeting the bank's queries but an official said it has no information on signing of the loan agreement till filing of this report.
"We are still hopeful of completing the project within the speculated time if the loan signing is completed without delay," said an official preferring not to be named.
He said being a priority project, its beginning is very important to meet the government's target of running trains through the 6.15 km Padma Bridge and establish connectivity with nine districts with the capital.
The BR has taken the plan under a project 'Padma bridge rail link project' to construct the 225km rail routes on both sides of the Padma Bridge by June 2022.
The route will be established in four sections - Dhaka-Gendaria route, Gendaria-Mawa, Mawa-Bhanga junction via Padma Bridge and Bhanga-Jessore Bridge.
The third section, which is Mawa-Bhanga junction-Bhanga via Padma Bridge, has been planned to be completed by 2018 to run trains over the country's longest Padma Bridge on the inaugural day.
Project officials said the government has taken the decision to involve Bangladesh Army in the project for speeding up the process of implementation to meet its target of inauguration by the end of 2018.
They said despite the delay, the authorities has continued the work to acquire lands as it has almost no land of its own from Dhaka-Mawa site of the bridge.
The BR signed the $ 3·14 billion contract with China Railway Group Ltd on August 8 with the target to start the project without delay intending to form the future backbone of the rail network in the southwest of the country in order to provide a direct connection with the capital.
The contract covers civil works and railway systems for 168·6 km of new 1,676 mm gauge line.
Starting in Dhaka, this will cross the River Padma on a 6·2 km road and rail bridge which now is under construction for opening in 2018. It will then run to Bhanga and Jessore, connecting with the existing Faridpur - Bhanga and Rajbari - Bhatiapara Ghat routes.
The single-track line is being designed for a maximum speed of 120 km/h. Construction is expected to take 54 months, with completion anticipated by June 30 2022, according to the BR.
For this project worth around Tk 350 billion, the Chinese government will provide Bangladesh a loan of Tk 247.49 billion for 20 years at an interest rate of 2 per cent.
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