Direct trains to capital from Khulna, Jessore and Rajshahi by July

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Bangladesh Railway is going to introduce direct train services from the capital to southwestern Khulna and Jessore and northwestern Rajshahi by July, reports bdnews24.com.
At present, the southwest-bound trains start from Joydevpur (Gazipur), about 25 kilometres from the capital. For every express train, railway authorities need to run four shuttle trains to carry passengers from Kamalapur to Joydevpur railway station and vice versa.
According to the railway plans, the existing metre-gauge line from Joydevpur to Kamalapur station in Dhaka will, by the end of July, be turned into a dual-gauge line on which both metre and broad-gauge trains can run.
Broad-gauge trains such as the Sundarban Express will start from Khulna and end its journey at the cantonment station in the capital instead of Joydevpur. The same way, Khulna-Jessore bound trains will start from the cantonment station.
Again, broad-gauge trains such as Silk City Express and Padma Express starting in Rajshahi will end their journeys at the cantonment station.
The direct train services would allow the authorities to eliminate 12 shuttle trains.
"The general manager (west, Rajshahi) has prepared a proposal to run trains from Rajshahi and Khulna to reach the cantonment station," Shahadat Hossain, divisional traffic officer (east zone, Dhaka division), told bdnews24.com.
He said the final decision on the issue would soon be taken by Bangladesh Railway authorities.
Hossain said the current dual-gauge project would be finished by July. "Then, trains to Khulna, if allowed, will start from the cantonment station and trains from Khulna-Jessore zone will end journeys at the same station."
The broad-gauge project started in 2004 and the metre-gauge track near the cantonment station has been turned into dual-gauge. The conversion work began at Joydevpur Station.