Railway master plan up for fault repair

Munima Sultana | Published: August 18, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

The 20-year railway master plan is up for fault repairs within three years of its adoption, sources said.
They said the Ministry of Railway (MoR) moved for reviewing its master plan, taken up for implementation in 2013, as the Bangladesh Railway (BR) could not make noteworthy headway in implementing projects in the absence of proper guidelines particularly for selecting priority projects.
The BR also faced problems in the selection of priority projects from the master plan.
"After taking up many projects, it was found that return from many cost-intensive projects would not be up to the desired level for flaws in the project planning," said an official, preferring not to be named.
For the problems, he added, the BR also faced difficulties in seeking financial support from development partners for implementing projects.
According to the BR sources, the 20-year master plan was adopted to implement 235 projects in four phases at an estimated cost of Tk 2339.44 billion
However, without proper priority setting, the railway authorities have taken up mega-projects like Dohazari-Cox's Bazar-Gundum, Padma Bridge rail link, and Kalukhali-Bhatiapara-Gopalganj-Tungipara many of which will not be feasible without establishment of rail links with nearby districts.
Asked about the flaws in the master plan, Railway Secretary Firoz Salah Uddin, however, said the ministry felt the need for the revision as many related projects like Payra Deep Sea Port and Laksam-Akhaura double-link projects are being highlighted in the country's development scenario.
"We want to make the revised master plan comprehensive so that no complication arises over implementation of projects," he told the FE.
As part of the move, the secretary said, the comprehensive plan would contain opinions of all stakeholders, including Economic Relations Division and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Official sources said under the rectification process, the BR has already appointed a consultant with technical support of the Asian Development Bank.
The consultant, CPCS Transcom Limited of Canada, has been working to update the master plan, assessing mechanised track- maintenance procedures, examining rolling stroke-maintenance procedures and mapping railway research and development division of the BR.
The updated master plan is likely to carry traffic surveys with real data analysis as well as ascertain the need and justification for the priority projects by carefully considering international practices and development trends in new technology
Meanwhile, the interim report of the consultants shows that no comprehensive traffic analysis in passenger traffic or freight traffic was made in preparing the master plan, no primary study/survey conducted for the study and no multimodal system was proposed considering link with major lands and inland waters.
It also says there is lack of sharing international experience and practice in assessing BR's existing infrastructures, organizational structures and bridges and signal and telecom systems.
The revision is likely to put emphasis on container transport including construction of new ICDs in project selection and prioritizing.
Under the master plan, 46 new projects involving Tk 273.98 billion and 39 revised projects involving Tk 180.25 billion have been approved while 24 projects under the plan have been completed.
Around 2,877 kilometers of railroad connecting 44 districts through 334 trains were established.
Two more railway zones - South Zone and North Zone - will be established alongside the existing East and West zones to expand the railway services.
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